The Hand Life Deals
by BonitaBreezy
Summary: If life were a game of poker, Demyx Capulet would have the worst hand in history. It seems there is no way things could get any worse, and then a deadly new development comes into play, almost simultaneously with a new love interest. Can Demyx win? Zemyx
1. Lyric

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney

A/N: Yola, peoples. Yay for me finally finishing this fic so I can post it. (dances a jig around laptop) I'm here to tell you guys some important stuff right from the get-go. If you'll kindly look up there and see the letter under rating (you'll note that it is an M), you will see that this will have content not suitable for kiddies or those of prudish origins. Also, I would not recommend this to yaoi haters. Hey, if you don't want to read it, don't. You've been warned, so I don't want any reviews like "Ew, boi seks! How gross!" If I do receive such reviews, I will post them at the beginning of the subsequent chapter and proceed to make fun of them. I thank you and good day.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

--

"_Who was the fool, who the wise man, beggar, or king?_

_Whether poor or rich, it's all the same in death."_

Chapter 1

Demyx sat in the waiting room of the hospital, staring at his folded hands in front of him. He knew he had to get going. Axel would be waiting for him and he didn't want to ruin any of the redhead's plans, but still he felt as if he couldn't move. What good were doctors if they couldn't tell you what was wrong?

He'd been having bad migraines and feeling really tired. He'd assumed it was the flu, but the doctor hadn't been so sure. He'd assigned some painkillers and said to come back the next week for a further check up. He'd been so sure it was just the flu…what else could it be? He didn't have the time or resources to deal with going to the doctor all the time.

Now, he not only had to study for his final exams, do his job, and take care of everything at home, he also had to come to the hospital and pay the bills for it more then once. Demyx pulled himself to his feet with a sigh and made his way out the door. He dashed across the street and started making his way down to the small park a few blocks away. He'd just come around into view of the park when he heard a shriek of, "Daddy!"

Knowing what was coming, he bent at the knee and threw his arms out, catching the little blonde girl as she came barreling into his arms. He scooped her up into his arms and started walking over to where he could see Axel and Roxas waiting.

"Daddy, guess what?" she exclaimed excitedly.

Demyx couldn't help but grin at his daughter. She was easily the most beautiful little girl to ever grace the earth and she was his. Even if the circumstances of her birth left much to be desired, he didn't regret it.

"What?" he asked with a grin.

"Uncle Axel and Uncle Roxas bought me ice cream!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"They gave you sugar?" Demyx asked with a slight grimace. He loved her, he really did, but giving the girl sugar was the biggest mistake in the world. She was hyper enough without it. They finally reached Demyx's friends, who were waiting for him all the way across the park on a bench. As soon as they got there, Demyx glared at them.

"Hey, babe," Axel greeted. "Why the glare?"

"Ice cream?" he demanded. Axel started laughing and Roxas smiled a little guiltily.

"She was begging," was Axel's excuse. "You know I can't deny that cute little face."

Demyx sighed and looked over the playground at the little kids rushing around, teeming with energy, their tired parents following after them. He was too young for this.

"Hey Lyric, how about I go push you on the swings, huh?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him away.

"I think your daughter is trying to steal my boyfriend," Axel grumbled jokingly. Demyx laughed, watching Roxas push Lyric as she giggled and shrieked, the wind rushing through her dirty-blonde pigtails. He'd recently become quite good at little girl hairstyles.

"She's four, Axel. I think you're safe. Besides, I'll kill any guy who thinks of putting their hands on my baby girl," Demyx declared, frowning slightly at the thought.

Axel laughed out loud, throwing his arm over Demyx's shoulders.

"Your fatherly instincts definitely make you scarier then anyone could think you'd be," Axel informed him.

"I'd tell you you'll understand one day, but unless Roxas grows some ovaries, I don't think that's gonna happen."

Roxas stopped the swing and Lyric jumped off, running in the direction of the slide. On her way over, she tripped and landed flat on her face in the dirt. Demyx made to make his way over as she sat up, looking utterly confused. After a moment, though, she just giggled, got up, and started toward the slide again.

"Down boy, she's fine. You're too overprotective."

"How do you expect me not to be?" Demyx murmured. "She's all I have."

Axel was silent for a long time, both of them watching the most important people in their lives goofing off together.

"Thanks for watching her today, Ax. I really appreciate it," Demyx sighed. He knew it was a lot to ask of them. Lyric could be quite the handful and they had their own lives. But he really had no one else to turn to.

"Hey, no problem. You know we love Lyric. She's so damn cute, not to mention I can start molding her mind to the love of flame from such a young age and you can't do a thing about it!"

"Bastard," Demyx snarled jokingly. It was strange to have the word pass his lips. He'd taken to censoring himself around Lyric, and after four years, it just sort of stuck.

"By god, Dem, was that an obscenity?" Axel gasped with mock horror.

There was a loud buzzing noise and Axel reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open with a greeting of, "Yo!" Demyx turned his attention back to Lyric, who was now clutching to Roxas' leg, pleading for something. Roxas was fighting a valiant battle, trying to deny the "pleading eyes of death" as Axel called them, but he was losing horribly. It almost hurt to watch.

"Dem, it's for you."

With his own living costs, plus that of Lyric's, Demyx couldn't afford a television or phone, cell or landline. For important issues, Demyx used Axel's cell phone as a contact point. He was usually with Axel, and if he wasn't he was with Lyric, so the emergency couldn't be too bad if she was safe.

"Hello?" he greeted, holding the phone to his ear.

"Hi, Demyx?"

"Yes," he answered.

"This is Kairi." Kairi baby-sat Lyric for free. She was a couple years older then Demyx and she watched Lyric for him while he was at school. She was a sweet girl and Lyric adored her.

"Hello, Kairi. Is something wrong?" he asked. Kairi never called unless something was wrong.

"I've come down with the flu, Dem. I'm really sorry, but I can't watch Lyric for at least a week. I'm sure you understand, wouldn't want her getting sick, right?"

"No, of course not," Demyx answered, shaking his head even though he knew Kairi couldn't see him. He looked up at the bright blue sky, cursing it while everything around him was falling to shit. "I hope you feel better, Kairi."

"Thanks. I'm really sorry, Demyx."

"It's fine. Focus on getting better. Bye," he hung up the phone.

"Well, shit," he sighed.

Axel looked over at him, cocking his head to the side just slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"That was Lyric's baby-sitter. She's sick and can't watch Lyric all week."

Axel let out a hiss of breath. "Tough break, man."

Demyx nodded, dialing a number into Axel's phone and holding it to his ear.

He loved Lyric more then life itself, but finding time and people to take care of her was increasingly getting harder. He'd lost contacts and couldn't make more because of her, but he wouldn't trade her for the world. It was an interesting situation, to say the least. The phone rang five times before it was answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Principal Xemnas? This is Demyx Capulet."

"Hello Demyx, what can I do for you on this fine Sunday evening?" his principal greeted. Demyx got the point.

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, but I thought I'd call myself in sick for the week while I still had the time," Demyx explained. There was a long silence on the other end. Demyx was beginning to wonder if the call was dropped when the principal spoke again.

"You're only allowed twenty days of absence before you're audited from all of your classes, Mr. Capulet. You only have two left," he explained patiently.

"Yes sir, I realize that, but my baby-sitter just cancelled and I can't leave my four-year-old home alone all day," Demyx explained, just as patiently. There was another long silence.

"Demyx, I know that things can't be easy for you, raising a child all on your own and still sticking with high school. I'm very proud of you for pulling through. You have two months left in your senior year and then you graduate. I can't stand by and watch you throw everything away now that you're so close."

"I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to do, take her to all my classes with me?" Demyx demanded.

"Yes. Do that. I'll alert your teachers ahead of time, shall I?"

Demyx was stunned. He could honestly say that was not how he had expected that conversation to turn out. He shook his head and made a strange gasping noise before he could speak.

"I'm sorry, sir. Did you just suggest that I bring my daughter to my high school to sit through all my classes with me?"

Axel cast him a questioning glance. Demyx had to turn away so he could concentrate on the conversation.

"Yes, Mr. Capulet, that is exactly what I'm suggesting."

"But…that won't do me any good…she'll distract me and the rest of the class…"

"Mr. Capulet, at this point in your high school career, I hardly think it matters. You just need to come to school everyday for the next two months to pass, so that everything you worked for wasn't a complete and total waste."

"Um…all right. You're gonna tell my teachers? So I don't get screamed at?"

"Yes, your teachers will be contacted. They'll know what to expect."

"Thank you…so much," Demyx managed to choke out.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Capulet."

Demyx was met with dial tone a moment later, still slightly in shock from the events that had just taken place.

"Lyric is seriously coming to school with you?" Axel demanded as soon as Demyx handed his phone back.

"Uh…yeah," Demyx answered. They were quiet for a long time until Axel said, "Hey, so how'd your doctor's appointment go?"

Demyx glanced over at his friend. His best friend, the one person who'd been there for him his entire life, and he felt scared.

"They…don't know. They don't know what's wrong with me," Demyx murmured quietly. "They want me to go back." Axel nodded at Demyx in understanding. He knew that the blonde hated hospitals more then anything. People always died when they went to the hospital.

"It'll be fine, Dem. You'll see."

Armed with Axel's kiss on the cheek and attempted reassuring words ringing in his ears, Demyx made his way over to his daughter, scooping her up and beginning the long walk home.

--

Hmm…so, what do you think? Like, dislike? Let me know. WITH A REVIEW! By the way, some things might seem vague. They're supposed to be that way. Everything will be revealed in time, you just have to be patient.


	2. Children Tell No Lies

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 2

The ringing beep filled his ears hardly seconds before an extra 50 pounds of weight was added to his back.

"Daddy!" Lyric screeched, far too awake for six thirty in the morning. "Daddy, you gotta get up! You hafta go to school!"

Demyx rolled over knocking Lyric off his back and onto the bed next to him. He sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes, and turning off his alarm clock.

His bedroom was a bit pathetic, much like the rest of the apartment. His "bed" was a mattress on the floor, the only other piece of furniture in the room being the desk, which held his alarm clock. The walls were stark white, but decorated with tons of pictures. A lot were of Lyric and the rest were of his friends, and one, only one, of Lyric's mother. It was too painful to look at, but Lyric liked it, so he left it up.

The rest of the house wasn't much better. Lyric's room had the most furniture, stuff that they had gotten from the baby shower. The only thing that had really changed since she was a baby was going from a crib to a small bed, one with a frame and everything, an upgrade from his mattress on the floor, to say the least. There was a small, sorry excuse for a kitchenette with a table and a living room with a couch. That was it. He was basically living in the Stone Age, what with his lack of electronics.

School started at seven and the bus would be there in roughly fifteen minutes. He really shouldn't have hit the snooze button so many times. He pulled himself out of bed and stretched his arms above his head.

"Lyric, go get dressed all right?" he instructed.

Lyric gave a happy nod and bounced out of the room while Demyx turned to his own closet and began rifling through his clothes for something to wear. He finally settled on a plain black t-shirt, jeans, and a white hoodie with his old band's name, "Melodious Nocturne" emblazoned across the back. After he'd found out his girl friend was pregnant, he'd had to drop out and they'd gotten a new guitarist and a record deal. He tried to convince himself that he didn't really care, but there was always that small bit of jealousy. He went across the hall to Lyric's room, tapping lightly on the door as he opened it.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded, beaming at him. He was amused to see how much his comfortable style had rubbed off on her. She too was wearing jeans and a hoodie, though her t-shirt was pink and her hoodie was black with the word 'Blondie' scribed across the front. Axel had bought it for her birthday because he always called her Blondie. His friends were so good to them. He'd really have to find a way to pay them back someday.

"Ready to go?" he asked. "Grab your bag." They'd packed a small backpack of stuff for her to keep herself entertained the next day, mostly coloring books, crayons, and a stuffed animal. He knew it wouldn't hold her over for long, but he was hoping it would long enough for him to find something else for her to do. On their way out the door, he grabbed a granola bar for her, the last one they had, to eat for breakfast. He'd have to go grocery shopping soon. Looks like he'd have to choose between groceries and heat again. They could live without heat. Piling up blankets would get them through. Food, on the other hand, was another matter.

Demyx made sure to lock the door before they left, making their way down the block to the bus stop. There was only one other person who rode that bus, a ghostly pale looking girl with long blonde hair. She looked curiously at them both, but didn't say a word. The bus pulled up hardly a minute later and Demyx lifted Lyric into his arms and carried her on the bus. The driver cast him what might have been a sympathetic glance before turning to face the road again. Demyx could feel the people staring, but he paid no mind to that. They could stare all they wanted, he was used to it. He found an empty seat near the front and sat, putting Lyric next to the window. He was practically asleep for the first ten minutes before she shook his arm.

"Daddy," she said, "Daddy, will you put my hair up?" She was holding a brush, which she had apparently stashed in her bag.

"Sure, hon," he answered quietly. "What do you want?"

"Can you put it in braids?" she asked. He felt almost guilty when he had to tell her that he didn't know how. Braids were a bit beyond his skill level. She looked so disappointed.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say to her sad little pout.

"Hey Demyx, I can do it if you don't mind."

Demyx looked at the aisle across from him, where the blonde girl from the bus stop was sitting. He'd known her since kindergarten, but he didn't really know her all that well. Her name was…Nichole? Something with an N.

"Um…you'd do that?" he asked uncertainly.

She shrugged, "Of course. I do it for my little sister all the time."

"What do you think, Lyric? Want the braids bad enough?" he asked. She smiled and climbed over his lap and into the blonde girl's. Demyx watched as the girl smiled.

"Hi, I'm Naminé," she greeted. "What's your name?" Ha! He knew it started with an N!

"I'm Lyric Capulet!" she smiled.

"Lyric, what an interesting name…"

Demyx looked away, out the window, feeling exhausted already. He wasn't sure how he was going to last out the whole day. His head was beginning to ache, even with the silence of the bus. The only noise was coming from the engine and Naminé and Lyric's discussion.

The bus pulled to a stop in front of the school, tons of students flooding in the front doors. Demyx stood, taking Lyric and her newly braided hair into his arms and swinging his bag over his shoulder. As he stepped down from the bus and started walking, he heard someone call his name. He stopped and turned to look at Naminé.

"She's adorable, Demyx," she sighed, glancing at Lyric. Even though her face was buried in his shoulder, he knew that she was grinning.

"Thanks. Lyric, what do you say?" he chided. She looked up and said, "Thank you!" before burying her face in his shoulder again.

"Well…I have study hall third and eighth period. If you maybe want to take a break or something at those times, I wouldn't mind watching her for you."

Demyx was shocked at the offer. He hardly knew Naminé, yet she was offering to do such a kind thing for him.

"That's a really nice offer, Naminé, but I don't know you very well, and I can't leave my kid in a stranger's hands," he said, trying not to offend her. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I thought as much. I just figured I'd offer."

"I appreciate it though," he assured her. She nodded and slid into the rush of students, disappearing in seconds. Demyx made his way toward his locker and then toward class.

"Daddy, put me down, I wanna walk," Lyric had insisted at one point.

"No can do. You're too short, you'd get lost in here," he said with a grin. She only pouted for a minute or so before wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head against his shoulder.

His first period class was literature, the one he expected to go easiest. The teacher was easy going and there were only six or seven students in the class. When he entered the room, there were three people already seated, chatting with each other idly while waiting for the class to start. His teacher looked up from her desk and smiled.

"Hello Demyx. This is your daughter?" she asked. Who else's kid would he be toting around to every class? As this questioned was voiced, the other three, plus the one who'd just walked in the door stopped to stare.

"Uh, yeah, this is Lyric," he introduced. He set Lyric down on her feet. "Lyric, this is my teacher, Miss Gainsborough."

"Nice to meet ya, Miss Gainsb…" she mumbled the last part of her name, the pronunciations beyond her. His teacher knelt down to look Lyric in the face and smiled warmly.

"You can call me Miss Aeris," she informed her. Lyric grinned and nodded.

"Miss Aeris," she repeated. "You're really pretty." Miss Gainsborough smiled and blushed a little bit.

"Why thank you. You're very pretty, too. You look a lot like your dad, don't you?"

Demyx was now focusing on the desktop as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. He knew what she was going to say.

Sure enough, Lyric frowned, glanced at Demyx, and then piped up with, "Daddy says I look like Mommy. I never met my Mommy. She's dead."

Miss Gainsborough nodded sadly. "I knew your mom. She was a really smart girl." Lyric smiled at the praise and then turned to the door as Roxas entered.

"Uncle Roxas!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" She was absolutely incredulous. Demyx hadn't realized she'd never made the school connection.

"I go to school here, munchkin," he answered with a grin. Demyx had the feeling Roxas loved calling her munchkin because there were few people that were actually shorter then him. Lyric wheeled around to look at Demyx.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" she demanded.

Demyx shrugged. "I thought you knew," he said.

"Is Uncle Axel here, too?" she asked. A girl somewhere in the room snorted. Demyx had to admit, if he hadn't known any better, he'd have laughed at the mental image of 'Uncle Axel' too.

"He's here," Demyx answered. "He's just not in this class."

"But Uncle Roxas, I didn't know you and Uncle Axel were allowed to go anywhere without each other," Lyric said. She looked over at Demyx for confirmation.

"What do you mean?" Roxas frowned.

"Well, you're always together and Daddy says you two are 'attached at the hip'. How come you can split up?"

The same girl laughed again. "Demyx, your daughter is adorable."

He let out a dull laugh. "Yeah, she's something," he responded, watching in amusement as Roxas tried to explain the saying to his inquisitive child. The bell rang and everyone found their seats, but Lyric kept talking. Demyx grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Lyric, hun, you have to be quiet now, all right. When that loud bell rings again, then you can talk," he whispered.

"How many minutes?" she asked with a pout.

"Forty," he answered.

"Forty minutes!" she shrieked, causing everyone to turn and look at them. "Daddy, that's forever!"

Demyx had to laugh.

"Sometimes it seems like it," Roxas rolled his eyes. "Shush up, munchkin." She stuck her tongue out at him and giggled, falling silent as the class got underway. For about five minutes, at least. Then again, she was four.

What could ya do?

--

Ah, isn't Lyric just adorable? Funny thing is, though, I hate kids. But I don't mind Lyric, I guess because she's my ideal kid. If she seems kinda smart for a four year old…that's because she is. I'm doing my best to keep the child-like nature, but I refuse to dumb her down to make her seem that way. I trade banana muffins for reviews.


	3. The First Step to Moving On

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 3

Demyx was quite impressed with how well Lyric managed to keep herself quiet and entertained. He was also amazed at the sheer numbers of people who had a soft spot for children.

At one point, Lyric had been moaning quietly about how thirsty she was, trying to get her point across and Demyx was dutifully ignoring her. He wasn't going to let his kid be spoiled, no way in hell. Anyway, a junior in his math class had offered her a drink from his water bottle, to which Lyric had replied that she wasn't allowed to take things from strangers, though Demyx could see she really wanted the water. He'd folded and told her it was all right to take it and she'd been incredibly pleased, climbing up in the boy's lap and staying there the rest of the period. After the class, Demyx had apologized profusely, but the guy just brushed it off, informed him that Lyric was a cute kid, and headed toward his next class.

Of course, it was only fourth period. There were five left, but lucky for Demyx, this one was a study hall and the next was lunch. He decided to spend his study hall in the library so he could start a research paper that was due at the end of the week. So, that was what had brought him to having to spend five minutes listening to the librarians coo at Lyric and introducing her.

Finally, now though, he was lost amongst the big cases of books, looking for something on Mao Zedong for his global class. Not fun stuff. He'd looked away for five seconds and Lyric was gone. Maybe he should buy her a leash? He set off, looking through bookcases for her, growing increasingly more worried as the minutes went on. He was on the verge of screaming her name when he heard her unmistakable giggle.

"Why are you so quiet?" she was asking.

"Why are you so loud?" was the reply. _Oh god, please don't let that be who I think it is_, he prayed quietly. He rounded the corner, and of course it was exactly who he'd thought it was.

His daughter was sitting on a chair next to Zexion Montague, chattering away while he stared intently at the book in his hands.

There were many things to be said about Zexion Montague, the first and foremost being that he was absolutely gorgeous. An inch or two shorter then Demyx, with silvery-gray colored hair that hung long in his face. Demyx had always been attracted to him, but the first problem was that Zexion didn't seem the type to be interested in guys, the second being that Demyx had been dating Lyric's mother the first time he'd seen Zexion, and the third being roughly 3'8" with dirty-blonde braids. There was no way in hell a teenager with a kid could get a date in this town. It was far too much to ask.

Zexion was a very serious guy, but not so much that Demyx didn't catch the occasional smile on his face. Still, though, he had a reputation for being easily annoyed, and sometimes, Lyric knew just what buttons to push.

Demyx hurried over to them, clamping a hand on her shoulder.

"Lyric Melody Capulet, what have I told you about running off?" he hissed.

She looked up and pouted. "I'm sorry Daddy, but you were taking forever! I just wanted to talk to someone!"

"Yes, well other people have important things to be doing, you can't just go around bothering them, all right?"

"But…"

"Lyric," he growled warningly.

"Sorry," she murmured.

"Say it to him, not me," he instructed.

Lyric's lower lip jutted out in a little pout as she turned to look at him.

"Sorry Mr. Zexion," she murmured, before stomping away on little girl feet. Demyx made sure she stayed within sight before turning back to Zexion.

"I'm really sorry about that," he sighed. "I'm thinking of looking in to buying a leash for her."

Zexion looked up, cracking the merest of smiles. "It's fine, Demyx. I didn't mind watching her for a moment." Demyx was incredibly shocked that Zexion knew his name, let alone the fact that he wasn't annoyed by Lyric.

"I saw her and figured she wasn't supposed to be alone. I invited her to sit with me."

Demyx felt like a bit of a jerk when he heard that.

"Lyric, come here," he called. She looked over at him as if deliberating granting his request, and then made her way over slowly. He knelt down to look her in the face as she approached. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. I didn't know the whole story and I was wrong," he apologized. "But you still can't run off like that." She nodded and her smile returned. Only for a minute though. She frowned again and leaned her head back to look at him as he stood back to his full height.

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" she announced.

"You'll have to wait," he said. "Lunch is next period." She crossed her little arms over her chest and let out an annoyed breath. Demyx took a moment to marvel at the sudden mood change, but was a bit glad that she was so forgiving. Zexion glanced at him and Demyx could tell he was asking permission to give her something. He nodded his assent. If Zexion was offering and it would keep Lyric quiet for a while, by all means. He handed her a dollar bill.

"Go ask the librarian if she'll take you to the vending machine," Demyx encouraged. Lyric nodded and turned to go. Demyx was about to speak up when she turned around and said, "Thank you!" before running off to talk to the nearest librarian.

They watched her go, and then Zexion turned to look fully at Demyx. He'd been a little afraid of that, but what could he do now? His only reason for escape was currently clutching the hand of a librarian, most likely relaying her life story, as she so liked to do.

"She's grown up a lot since I last saw her," Zexion said quietly.

"The last time you saw her she was two hours old. What did you expect?"

"I'm a little shocked, I suppose. She looks just like…"

"Don't," Demyx hissed. "Don't say her name."

Zexion looked a bit taken aback, his eyes widening just in the slightest. Then the look disappeared and he seemed to have no emotion. Blank face, eyes cold and empty, tense posture.

"And why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"It…it hurts, all right? I just…I don't want to hear it because it hurts."

Zexion let out a frustrated sigh, looking down at the book he'd set on the desk before glancing back up.

"It's been four years, Demyx, you have to start getting over her."

Demyx glared at him before focusing his attention on the book. He was slightly annoyed to find that it was the book on Mao Zedong he'd been looking for.

"Just let it go? That's your sagely advice? It's not that easy…you wouldn't understand, all right?"

Zexion's eyes flashed with anger. "I'm sorry, what was that? You say I wouldn't understand?" he hissed. "She was my best friend, my very best friend."

"She was the first person I ever loved!" Demyx retorted angrily.

"You're not the only one who loved her," Zexion growled.

"But I was in love with her," Demyx insisted. Zexion shook his head.

"And what about Lyric? Is she allowed to talk about her mother? Is she allowed to ask questions and say her name?" Zexion hissed.

"Yes, she is. But that's different, all right?" Demyx insisted. He looked back down at the book, wondering what Zexion would do if he took it. Then again, that would be a bit juvenile, wouldn't it?

Zexion sighed and picked up the book, holding it loosely at his side as if he'd heard Demyx's short-lived internal battle. Was it Demyx's imagination, or did Zexion look just the smallest bit sad?

"I think you're afraid," Zexion said finally.

"Afraid of what?" Demyx scoffed, glancing toward the door to see if Lyric was coming to his rescue. She didn't seem to be, which was a bit disappointing. He wasn't too comfortable with this conversation happening, and he was pretty sure Zexion wouldn't force him into it if his daughter was there to watch.

"You're afraid of moving on. But why?" Zexion murmured. "That's the question, really. Why are you so afraid to let go of her, Demyx?"

"Because!" Demyx hissed. "Because she was the only person who ever loved me, the only person ever wanted me for more then a fickle reason. She was wholly and truly in love with me and I won't ever have anything like that again. I'm eighteen years old and I have a daughter. I don't have another chance at love. No one in their right mind would deal with a kid full time at our age. They'd have to be damn crazy!" Demyx raved, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. They were staring at each other so intently, faces so close, they didn't notice that the entire library had stopped to stare at the pair that were now practically screaming at each other.

Zexion let out a low growl. "You're a fucking idiot, aren't you?"

"What…" Zexion seized Demyx's upper arms and yanked him forward, crushing their lips together. When Demyx didn't react, he pulled away. "That was your first kiss since her death, wasn't it?" he said. "Well, guess what? That was the first step. Now you can move on. Do yourself some good, Demyx. Forget about Larxene."

With that, Zexion pushed past him and out of the library. Demyx wasn't sure what to say or do. What…had just happened? Just like that, a flip had switched. Demyx let out a breath through his mouth and picked up the nearest thing, which was a thick encyclopedia volume, and hurled it across the room.

"SON OF A BITCH!" he snarled, slamming his hand hard against the tabletop. He couldn't stop. He couldn't stop yelling and screaming and basically throwing a fit. At least, not until he felt a small hand on his leg.

"Daddy?" Lyric whispered. He instantly deflated, dropping to his knees. "Daddy, it's okay. Don't be sad," she murmured.

He hadn't realized until just now that he was crying. He hadn't cried in a very long time, not once in four years, and now he was practically sobbing. Demyx Capulet sat in the middle of the school's library, clutching his daughter to his chest, sobbing for the first time at the thought of his lost love, and maybe, maybe he was taking the first step to moving on.

--

A/N: So we have a dramatic moment with Demyx and we reveal Lyric's mother…yeah. I know I'm going to get somebody saying something about Zexion being forward, but I've always kind of pictured him that way. You know, like if he knows what he wants he's going to go for it type. Also, the relationship starter might seem rushed, but that's because the main focus isn't the two building a relationship…well it kinda is but not really…whatever, you'll see what I mean later. Review if you think cookies are overrated (but like them anyway).


	4. It Begins

A/N: OMIGOD, TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! I just have to take my global history, Math A, Living Environment, and Spanish 3 exams and then I am officially a junior. I feel so old...

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 4

"So, I heard you had a major freak out in the library fourth period," Axel grinned as Demyx slid into the backseat of his car, buckling the sleeping Lyric in next to him.

Roxas turned around and looked at him, a wicked grin on his face that was almost identical to Axel's.

"He's a bad influence on you," Demyx grumbled, buckling his own belt as Axel backed out of his parking space. Roxas only laughed.

"I heard you were making out with Zexion Montague right before it happened," Roxas said.

Demyx blushed and looked away. "We were _not_ making out. It was a kiss, okay? One kiss."

Axel thumped his hand on the steering wheel and glanced at him in the review mirror. "It's about damn time, Demyx. I've been telling you for years to get yourself some ass…"

"Axel!" Demyx hissed, nodding toward Lyric.

Axel rolled his eyes. "She's asleep, Dem, no harm, no foul."

"It's not like it meant anything, anyway," Demyx muttered, staring out the window, pressing his forehead against the pane. His head was pounding, hurting worse and worse ever since fourth period. "He was trying to convince me to move on and we started yelling at each other and he kissed me. He said that it was the first step to me moving on and then he just walked away."

Axel snorted. "Are you really that damn oblivious, Dem? Zexion totally wants you."

"You're crazy, Axel. Zexion's straight."

"Psh, Zexion is as straight as I am," Roxas snorted, turning in his seat to look back at Demyx. "And I have to agree with Axel on this one. Zexion totally wants you, man. He has for years."

Demyx was growing a bit annoyed, but mostly confused with the conversation.

"And how would you know that, exactly?" Demyx demanded.

"Um, hello. Zexion was my sister's best friend, and let me tell you, Larxene was never much of a secret keeper and she was amazing at getting secrets out of people."

Lyric calling Roxas uncle was more then just a nickname. Roxas was Larxene's twin brother, though the two couldn't have possibly been more different.

"Are you telling me that Zexion came right out and told my girlfriend that he liked me?" Demyx asked doubtfully.

"Well he didn't come out and say it, Larxene more of tortured the information out of him."

Axel glanced back again and shrugged. "I dunno, Dem, maybe it did you some good. I noticed that Roxas just said the word Larxene twice and you didn't flinch or throw a fit at all."

Demyx nodded, realizing with a jolt that Axel was right. He'd cried for the first time and even the sound of her name didn't really affect him. That Zexion must have been a miracle worker.

"I guess. I don't know, it doesn't really matter now, does it? Not even Zexion Montague is crazy enough to want to deal with a kid." He pressed his forehead against the window more, trying to soak in the cool feeling. He had the sharpest pains just behind his ear, as if someone was repeatedly stabbing him with a hot knife. The music playing in the background seemed so much louder then it actually was.

"Ax, can you turn that off?" Demyx grumbled. He could feel a migraine coming on, which wasn't good. His migraines were continually getting worse and worse, so much so that they lasted for at least three days and he was completely incapacitated. And he'd have to go to school like that.

"Hey, Dem, are you all right?" Axel asked.

"Headache," Demyx grumbled.

"Again?" Roxas asked.

The scenery was flashing by so quickly it was making him slightly nauseous. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to ignore the rocking motions of the car.

"Dem, I'm a bit worried about you. When is your next appointment with the doctor?" Axel's voice was concerned and Demyx felt a bit bad about making him worry.

"On Thursday, I think," Demyx answered. "It's nothing to worry about, Axel, just some headaches. I'll get a prescription for some painkillers and then spend a year working off the medical bills. I don't even know if it's necessary to go back, really. I can pick up some aspirin or something at the drug store."

"Dem, I'm beginning to think it might be something serious," Axel said quietly. Demyx's eyes snapped open and he turned to glare at Axel, glad that he was pulling into the parking lot of Demyx's workplace.

"It's nothing important, Axel. It's nothing. I'm fine and I really don't need to go back to the hospital," he growled.

"Demyx, not everyone that goes to the hospital dies," Roxas said quietly. Demyx kissed Lyric on the forehead.

"Thanks for watching her for me," he muttered before getting out of the car and slamming the door behind him, stalking across the parking lot with his work shirt thrown over his shoulder.

He worked as a manager at a restaurant/ice cream parlor called Nicky Doodles. He'd worked there since just before Lyric was born, even though he was underage. The owner, Sora, was Roxas' older brother and Demyx's job there had come into existence merely because Sora owed Roxas a favor. Sora had been reluctant to hire him, pissed at the 'idiot who'd gotten his baby sister pregnant'. Sora had soon seen that Demyx was willing to work hard and he'd risen through the ranks quickly, raking in almost as many working hours as Sora himself. The two had easily become friendly with each other and Sora had even forgiven him for impregnating Larxene.

The restaurant wasn't very big inside, but that was all right because there was a large outside area. The property was built on a large fielded lot with at least thirty tables that could comfortably seat six and two three-seater swings. There was a pagoda on one side with three windows, the covers on them sliding up so people could place their orders, where the ice cream was served. The was a glass door a bit off to the left where the real food was served with a small indoor seating area and a larger open air patio with long tables and an old fashioned jukebox. It was the place for teenagers to be at any given time during the week, and Sora was a really good boss, so Demyx didn't mind coming to work so much.

He waved to the three girls behind the ice cream counter as he went in through the glass door and slid over the top of the counter. He made his way to the backroom, pulling off his hoodie and sliding his bright blue work polo on over his t-shirt.

"Hey Dem, are you feeling all right? You look tired." Sora made his appearance from the back office, though Demyx didn't look up.

"Thanks Boss Man, isn't that just a nice way of saying I look like shit?" he grumbled.

Sora laughed. "Absolutely." Demyx looked up at him and had to stifle a laugh. Sora was calmly buttoning up his shirt with one hand while running the other through his hair, trying to make it look less disheveled, though with the way the boy wore his hair in normal circumstances there wasn't much of a difference.

"Not very discreet, are you?" he asked.

Sora shook his head, his bright blue eyes sparkling with laughter. "I don't have to be, I'm the boss, I can have crazy sex in my office with whoever I want whenever I want."

"Like hell you can!" Riku, Sora's boyfriend, growled as he made his way past the door, pulling his jacket on as went.

"Love ya, babe! See ya at home later!" Sora called after him, Riku's only reply being a wave of the hand over his shoulder. "He's in a bit of a mood today," Sora informed him. Demyx merely laughed at the obvious understatement, shoving his hoodie in his locker, not bothering to lock it. No one would steal his hoodie and he had nothing else of value, so he wasn't too worried. He winced as he slammed the locker door shut, making his head twinge.

"Seriously, are you all right?" Sora asked, a concerned frown spreading over his face.

"Yeah, I'm all right. I've just got a bit of a headache, is all," Demyx answered.

Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, if you're not feeling well why don't you go home? I think we can manage without you today." Demyx shook his head at the suggestion.

"No good, I need the money," he said quietly. "Lyric's growing like a weed, constantly needing new clothes that fit her."

"Well, that's your own damn fault," Sora grumbled. "You and your stupid tall genes." Sora was a bit touchy about how short he was, especially because Riku, who was easily six foot, constantly teased him about it.

"It's not only my fault," Demyx insisted. "Larx was tall too, not to mention I got my tall gene from my dad."

Sora stared at him, his eyes wide with shock. "By god, that's probably the first time I've heard you say her name since she died," he muttered with a sigh. He grinned and patted Demyx on the back.

"It's good that you're moving on. How long has this been happening?"

Demyx smiled sheepishly and looked away. "Um…since fourth period this morning when I had a major freak out after Zexion Montague kissed me."

Sora laughed and then frowned. "Zexion Montague? Not the little quiet guy? Larx's right hand?"

"The very same," Demyx sighed. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to feel toward Zexion. Sure, he was attractive, but…Demyx hardly knew him. Anyway, it was a moot point all things considered. "Anyway, Sora, who are you to be calling anyone little?"

Sora glowered at him. "Get to work, asshole."

Demyx laughed, dodging the smack Sora aimed in his direction and making his way out toward the counter. Now that his only distraction was the whining customers, his migraine was quickly getting worse and worse. He had to force himself to concentrate and he was tired, really, really tired.

"Hello Demyx, I wasn't aware you worked here." Demyx glanced up to see Zexion Montague staring at him. His eyes shifted to concern.

"Are you all right? You don't look very well," he said.

"Yeah, thanks a lot," Demyx muttered. "What can I get for you?"

"I think you should sit down, Demyx."

Demyx shook his head, ignoring the black spots appearing in front of his eyes.

"No, I'm fine. Place your order, will you?"

"Demyx…"

It was only when the black spots joined together and the tunnel vision started that Demyx realized he might not be as okay as he'd thought.

"Zex, I think I'm gonna…" He couldn't finish his sentence as the blackness took over and everything else ceased to exist.

--

A/N: All right, lay it on me, what say you? Too coincidental that Zexion just happened to show up when Demyx fainted? Yeah, well, deal with it. It helps the dynamics, and this is fanfic. It's all about random extreme coincidences that would never actually happen in real life. You wish for an example? Read any boarding school AkuRoku fic. I guarantee you, Axel and Roxas are always roommates, same with Sora and Riku and Demyx and Zexion. It's just the way things work in the world of fanfiction. That's what makes it so magical, you see?

Nicky Doodles is a real restaurant in the city I live in. As I live in central New York (with the highest tax rate in the country) most of our businesses are shutting down because our economy sucks. Nicky Doodles is possibly the longest lasting one we have (besides WalMart, but that doesn't really count) and besides that, the food is kickass.


	5. Diagnosis

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 5

Demyx felt so exhausted it almost hurt. He tried to open his eyes and ended up blinking rapidly at the bright white light that flooded his retinas. He had a bad pain on his forehead, worse then the migraine that had somehow worked itself down to a dull throbbing headache. He tried opening his eyes again, succeeding this time as he opened them slower. As soon as he gained his bearings, he really wished he hadn't bothered. He was lying in a hospital. He hated hospitals.

"Oh good, you're awake. You gave your friend a bit of a scare."

He noticed for the first time that a very effeminate man was standing in the room.

"What happened?" Demyx asked, bringing a hand up to touch the pain on his forehead.

"From what I understand you fainted and hit your head on the edge of a counter on the way down. Your friend was quite frantic at the sight of all the blood." Demyx's eyes widened and the man cast him a thin smile. "Not to worry. Head wounds always bleed a lot. It was hardly a scratch, you didn't even need stitches."

Demyx was confused. He'd never fainted before, and he was slightly annoyed to discover that it was so disconcerting. The man approached him.

"My name is Doctor Vexen. Follow the light with your eyes without moving your head." He held a penlight in his hand and shined it in front of Demyx's face, back and forth, back and forth.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Demyx Capulet," he answered, wondering why 'his friend' hadn't told the man.

"And your birthday?"

"June 9th…Why do you care?" Demyx bit out. He felt a little bad afterwards. Hospitals always put him in a bad mood.

"I'm merely checking to make sure you haven't suffered any memory loss from your head trauma. Do you have any family?"

"Just my daughter," Demyx answered, eyes still following the annoying light.

"What's her name?"

"Lyric."

"Interesting name," he murmured, turning off the light and tucking it in his pocket. "Yes, well, everything seems to be in order here. While you were unconscious we did an MRI to be sure that you weren't bleeding internally. We'll just wait for the results to come and then you can go."

Demyx felt like he'd been punched in the gut. "You did what?" he hissed. The doctor raised an eyebrow just in the slightest, looking at him curiously.

"An MRI. It's when you take a picture…"

"I _know_ what an MRI is!" Demyx growled. "Why would you do that? Without my permission?"

"Well, in our defense, you were hardly in any position to object or agree, so we did what we thought was best…"

"That was not best, dammit! I have a kid, I can't afford to have fancy, expensive scans for no reason!"

"Calm down, Mr. Capulet, I'm sure your insurance will cover it…"

"I don't have insurance!" Demyx exclaimed. "I'm fucking eighteen years old and my dead parents didn't give two shits about me after I disgraced the family name by getting my girlfriend pregnant! I only have what I make myself, and it's nowhere damn near enough to pay for some pointless scan!" he growled.

Demyx himself was a bit shocked at the amount of obscenities crossing his lips. It was almost like four years of pent up cussing was all coming out of him in one day, like a dam breaking. He really needed to sleep; he was losing his mind. The worst part though, was that it was all Zexion Montague's fault. He'd punched that first hole in that dam and now all the water was coming out and Demyx could do nothing to stop it. Moving on apparently was not helpful at all, just annoying. It was all he could do to hold his hands over the hole and try to keep at least some of the water in.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Capulet, but it was the only solution we could think of." There was a knock on the door and it opened. A smiling woman came in and handed a large manila folder to Dr. Vexen.

"Thank you," he said as she made her way out. "This should be the result of the scan." He flipped the folder open and pulled out a large sheet, something Demyx thought looked a lot like an x-ray. Dr. Vexen held it up to the light and frowned. He let it down, shaking his head and blinking his eyes before he held it up again and looked. He lowered it again slowly, looking at Demyx. Demyx didn't like the look on his face. It held pity. Every time someone looked at you like that in a hospital, someone was sure to die.

"I think the scan may have been more necessary then you think," he said quietly.

Zexion, who Demyx assumed was the friend Vexen had been talking about, was still waiting when Demyx came out into the waiting room in certain shock. He was reading a book, apparently undisturbed by the commotion all around him. Demyx's mind was reeling. He couldn't quite understand it all. It didn't make any sense, not really. How could this have happened? Why him? Was his luck so damn rotten? Zexion looked up as Demyx approached, snapping his book shut and standing.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Still numb, Demyx hadn't really realized he'd spoken until Zexion touched his arm. He jumped and looked at the shorter male, blinking in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"I asked if you're all right," Zexion repeated.

Demyx didn't want to say it out loud. Saying it out loud would make it true, and he wasn't quite ready to accept that yet.

"Yeah," he answered, throat dry. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been pushing it too hard, I guess. The stress caught up to me."

Zexion nodded, pulling his keys from his pocket.

"Let me take you home," he said. Demyx nodded tiredly. All the commotion of the day had made him exhausted. He didn't even feel strange around Zexion for the kiss, the news he'd just received that much more shocking.

Zexion put his keys in the ignition but didn't start the car. Instead, he turned to look at Demyx, who was practically asleep in the seat next to him.

"So how are you coming along with letting go?" he asked. Demyx opened one eye and glared at him halfheartedly.

"You're an asshole," he muttered. Zexion looked taken aback at this response, so Demyx decided to clarify. "I was getting along all right just ignoring the thought she'd ever existed and then you had to get all nosy and kiss me and confuse the hell out of me and now I'm an emotional train wreck. I'm throwing stupid fits and having a really hard time censoring myself around my kid, and it's all your damn fault."

The barest of smiles traced Zexion's lips. "Nice to know that I can create such a reaction from you," he murmured.

"You're an asshole," Demyx repeated, closing his eye firmly.

"I was just trying to be helpful," Zexion shrugged, reaching to turn on the car.

"Yeah, well it really didn't help. I don't like being toyed with, okay? Don't kiss someone if you aren't planning on following through," Demyx grumbled. Zexion's hand dropped away from the keys with a slight jingle and he looked over at Demyx, trying to figure out what he'd meant by that.

"Cause stuff like that, it's not funny, especially for someone who'd just spilled his guts to you about feeling unloved." Demyx opened his eyes again when he felt the hand on his arm. Zexion was half leaned across the center console, looking at him seriously.

"Who says I'm not going to follow through?" he asked. Demyx blinked in shock and then felt a little angry.

"Did Roxas put you up to this?" he demanded. "Because I'm really not amused. Stop jerking me around."

"I'm not jerking you anywhere. I'm being completely serious right now," Zexion stated firmly. "Roxas has absolutely nothing to do with it, I assure you."

"But…but…Lyric…"

"What about her?" Zexion asked.

"She's a kid…my kid. You'd want to deal with something like that?" he asked, disbelieving.

"You're worth it, Demyx."

Demyx was almost amazed. Had it really been only this morning that Zexion had kissed him, and now he was practically confessing his undying love?

"Zexion…I don't know if I can…after Larxene…" Zexion raised a hand and placed it over Demyx's mouth.

"You need to get over her, Demyx. I can help you do that. I want to help you do that. Will you let me?"

Demyx stared at him for a long time, and Zexion just stared right back.

"You…you're serious about this?" Demyx breathed.

"Serious as a heart attack," Zexion deadpanned.

More staring ensued, Demyx still looking uncertain and maybe a bit scared. He didn't really want to let go of Larxene. He didn't want to replace her with someone else. But he also hated being alone. He hated it more then anything. Lyric was always there, but he needed more then a daughter. He needed someone to take care of him sometimes and he wasn't sure whether Zexion really wanted to do all that. But he was desperate. And Zexion was willing to try.

"Okay," he answered finally. A lazy smile graced Zexion's features. He knew he shouldn't be starting something with Zexion. It wasn't nice and it wasn't fair to him, but Demyx was feeling selfish. He wanted it, dammit.

"Okay?" he questioned.

Demyx nodded. "Okay," he repeated.

That, apparently, was all Zexion needed, for he pulled Demyx forward and pressed their lips into a kiss. This time, though, Demyx responded. He hadn't kissed someone in a long time, and he was a bit pleased to find that it was like riding a bicycle. You didn't lose the skill over time.

He also realized something else. Looking at the pair of them, no one would guess that little Zexion was so demanding. He was definitely in control of the kiss, and Demyx let him be. He rather liked having someone tell him what to do, someone make decisions for him. When he was with Larxene, he'd been dominant, merely because he was the male. But now Zexion had taken the role and Demyx found that he quite preferred it.

A few well-placed nips on his lower lip had him moaning and forgetting all about the horrendous news he'd received in the hospital. His mind was pleasantly blank, the only thing that really mattered being the feel of Zexion's mouth against his, the taste of his tongue stroking Demyx's own, the bursts of pleasure from the tiny nips.

When they finally pulled away, it was due to lack of air. They engaged in another staring contest. Demyx was the first to look away. Zexion started the car and pulled out of the parking lot in silence. They were nearly half way to Demyx's apartment when he remembered that he'd left Lyric in Axel's care.

"Shit," he hissed. Zexion shot a questioning glance in his direction. "I have to get Lyric from Axel's house," he explained. Zexion nodded.

"Does he still live over on Oak Street?" Zexion asked.

"Um. Yeah. I didn't know you were friends with Axel," Demyx said, more then a little surprised.

Zexion smiled wryly. "I'm not. Larxene was though, and I was with her quite a lot. Until you took her away," he added with a small grin.

Demyx stuck his tongue out at the shorter boy and looked out the window. Now that the initial shock of starting a relationship all in one day had passed, he was back to dwelling on the evil hospital news. They were silent all the way to Axel's house. When Zexion pulled to a stop, he asked, "Do you want me to wait?"

Demyx thought about it for a minute and shook his head.

"No. I'll be all right. Thanks for everything, though."

"Anytime you need me, Demyx."

Demyx smiled, kissed him on the cheek, and got out of the car. He heard it pull away as he approached the porch, ringing the doorbell. With Zexion gone, his Zen completely disappeared and he was suddenly panicked, scared, and angry. But mostly, he was angry. He remembered the comment Axel had made in the car earlier and when the door opened and Axel stood there, Demyx didn't think twice about punching him smartly in the face. Axel recoiled, a hand coming to his jaw.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed as Demyx came at him again.

"You son of a bitch!" he growled, all reason thrown to the wind. "You had to say it, you just had to fuckin' say it!"

"Say what?" Axel gasped, dodging another punch. "Dem what did I say?"

"You said it would be something bad! You jinxed me, dammit!" Demyx was sobbing again, for the second time in the same day. His emotions were all the hell over the place. He really needed some sleep. Axel grabbed his punch out of the air and pulled Demyx to him, wrapping him in a hug.

"Dem, what happened? What's wrong?" he asked quietly. Demyx buried his face in his shirt, anger gone, fear replacing it.

"Demyx?" Roxas asked quietly. "What is it?"

"You jinxed me, Ax. It was a jinx…"

"Demyx, you're really scaring me here. What's wrong?" Axel tried again.

"I hit…m-my head at…work today," Demyx told him, tears not stopping. "The d-doctor took…an MRI…to s-see if there was…any internal d-damage…" he choked past his sobs. Axel's arms tightened around him.

"What did they find, Dem?" he murmured quietly.

"I…I have a brain tumor," Demyx whispered.

--

Dun-Dun-Dun! Who guessed it? wiggles eyebrows at Critic Zoa Raise your hands! Yes, I know the relationship is rushed. I said it once, I'll say it again. That is just a small bit of the whole pie. You can still complain if you want to. Okalie Dokalie, neighbors, you know the drill. Press the purple button in the bottom left hand corner and send me on the high of my lifetime with a wonderful review!


	6. Of Health Insurance and Bets

A/N: YESH! Global History exam is OVER! Actually, it was so easy I'm a little bit offended...anyone reading live in New York? Cause if you're testing out of sophomore year you know what I mean. Was that not the easiest regents you've ever taken?

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 6

Some sort of flowery scent surrounded him and something cool rested on his forehead. A soft voice was whispering to him, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was saying. He was warm and didn't feel any pain. Had he died? That seemed to be the only solution.

"Larx?" he murmured. Was it her talking to him?

"Demyx? Are you awake?" He blinked twice, opening his eyes, only to be disappointed. It wasn't Larxene. The woman's voice was Axel's mom.

"Ariel," he said, his voice sounding the slightest bit raspy. "What are you doing in my house?"

She laughed and then he realized that he wasn't in his apartment at all. He was lying on Axel's bed with her cool hand resting on his forehead, stroking his bangs away from his eyes. The flowers had been her perfume.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking concerned.

Demyx had always liked Ariel. When he was a kid, she'd always been the "cool mom". Axel's house was the best place to hang out because his mom basically let them do whatever they wanted.

Ariel had the same crimson hair as Axel's, though hers was sleek and soft where his was wild and spiky. Her eyes were bright blue and she had a wicked sense of humor. She was small, a lot smaller then her son, but she was not to be taken lightly. She could be fierce when she wanted to be. Demyx could never get over the amusement of seeing 6'5" Axel cowering under the gaze of his 5'2" mother.

Ariel had been a second mother to Demyx ever since he'd first met her, but even more so after his parents had disowned him. She'd never judged him for the mistakes he'd made and she'd supported his decision to keep Lyric by himself. She'd offered to help him financially, easy enough for her, considering the fact that Axel's father had been a multi-millionaire and had left her everything when he died, but Demyx didn't want to take her money. She did so much for him already; he didn't want to take advantage.

"I feel okay," he whispered, throat rough with sleep.

"Are you sure? No headaches or nausea?" she asked.

"No, really, I'm fine. I just needed sleep," he sighed.

"You certainly did. You slept all the way through the night until now. I came to get you up. You have to go to school."

Demyx nodded, wearily pulling himself out of bed.

"I washed your jeans for you and you can borrow one of Axel's shirts," she said with a smile. He smiled back.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot."

As he got up to go take a shower, he could feel a headache coming on. The headache reminded him of the entire reason he'd been so exhausted lately. A brain tumor. He, Demyx, had a brain tumor. How, why, would something like this happen to him? What was he going to do? He didn't have the money to deal with medical bills and good luck getting health insurance for a dying man. He couldn't afford treatment, so was he supposed to let himself die? He was at a complete loss for what to do. He was all Lyric had left in the world. Everyone was dying on her. What would she do if he died? What would happen to her? How the hell had everything gotten so fucked up?

He turned on the water and stepped under the hot stream, still thinking intently.

Speaking of which, there was Zexion. Demyx wasn't quite sure how to deal with that. It had been very wrong of Demyx to do that to him. Demyx had known, when he'd kissed Zexion, that he was most likely going to die. It was a setup that could only lead to pain. Demyx didn't want to tell him. He didn't want anyone to know about it, that would only lead to pity and he couldn't take that. Demyx hated pity. So it was simple, he'd just have to tell Zexion that he'd made a mistake and hurt him a bit. It was merciful compared to what would happen if Zexion got too attached and Demyx died. He couldn't do that to someone else, not when it had happened to him. Not when he knew what the pain was like.

The blonde turned off the shower, squeezing the water out of his long hair before wrapping a towel around his waist. He'd have to talk to Roxas and Axel, make sure that they didn't tell anyone.

Ariel had pancakes sitting on a plate for him when he finally came downstairs, dressed in his jeans and Axel's black t-shirt and MSI hoodie. Roxas was at the table, watching in amusement as Ariel climbed on top of the counter so she could whack Axel over the head for drinking straight out of the orange juice carton.

"Demyx! How're you feeling?" Roxas asked, being the first to notice his entrance.

"My head hurts like hell," Demyx grumbled, slouching at the table and slowly beginning to feed himself. They were all instantly alert, looking at him in alarm. He rolled his eyes and smiled a bit at their concern. "Don't worry about it, the doc says it should get better throughout the day."

"How can we not worry about it, moron?" Axel grumbled.

While Ariel whacked him over the head again, Demyx cast a glance around. "Where's Lyric?" he asked, not spotting the girl.

"She's still asleep. I'll baby-sit her while you're in school today," Ariel answered.

"No, no…you have to work…" Demyx tried to protest, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"I already cancelled all my appointments. The damage is done."

Demyx didn't really see the point of putting up an argument. Once Ariel made a decision it was completely and totally impossible to change her mind about it.

"What else did the doctor say?" Axel asked, leaning against the counter and crossing his long legs in front of him, eyeing the orange juice carton.

"Not much…I kinda…ran out on him. I suppose I ought to go back and find out what I need to do in order…not to die. I don't know how the hell I'm going to pay for it, though," he sighed.

"Don't you worry about that, Demyx. I'll pay," Ariel said decisively.

"No, I didn't mean that!" Demyx said quickly.

"I know you didn't, but I'm going to pay anyway." She held up a hand to quell his protests. "This is a matter of life and death, Demyx, you have no room to be stubborn. Besides…" Demyx looked suspiciously at Ariel, who seemed a little guilty. "Both you and Lyric have been on my medical insurance since she was born."

Demyx's jaw dropped. She'd…added him to her insurance? He wasn't sure whether he should be upset by her blatant ignorance of his wishes or touched that she cared enough about him to defy his wishes altogether. After a moment of careful consideration, in which Ariel stared at him uncertainly and Axel took the opportunity to start drinking from the orange juice carton again, Demyx just smiled and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered soft enough so only she could hear. "Thank you for everything you've done for us." She hugged him back tight, her little arms strong around his torso.

"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when you're all better. This sounds too much like goodbye. You'll be fine," she reassured him in a whisper.

"You promise?"

"I promise." She pulled away and looked at him with a serious smile before yelling, "AXEL, dammit, is it so hard to use a glass?" She hadn't even had to turn around to know. She whipped around now, snatching the newspaper off the kitchen table and whacking him with it. Axel threw up his arms, laughing as he blocked the hits. Demyx and Roxas merely watched in amusement as he started to scream, "Uncle! I give, I give! You win, I'll use a glass!" She instantly dropped the paper and Axel glowered at her half-heartedly.

"Child abuser," he teased.

"Next time I'll use a phonebook," she joked back.

Just like that, the serious mood was gone and they were all joking together again. Demyx took a couple more bites of food before Axel grabbed his keys from the ring by the back door and jangled them in his direction. That was universal Axel language for 'get in the car'.

"You boys go and wait, I want to talk to Demyx," Ariel instructed. Axel grinned and gave a cocky salute before seizing Roxas' hand and pulling him out the door. Demyx stood and avoided looking in Ariel's direction. He was a little embarrassed at the fact that she was going to pay his hospital bills…or at least, her insurance was.

"After school today I'm going to go down to the hospital with you so I can talk to this doctor and we can find out exactly what it is that's going on."

Demyx nodded, feeling slightly sick. He hated hospitals and this would be his third day in a row going into one. It was like one gigantic sick joke and he wasn't laughing.

"Everything will be all right, Demyx, you'll see." He couldn't really answer, so he just nodded and headed outside.

The sight outside might have made him gag, had he not been so used to it from the two. Axel had Roxas pinned to the side of the car and the two were thoroughly fused together at the lips. Roxas' hands were clutching at Axel's hair, so Demyx's first attempt to get their attention by pulling on said hair failed. His next attempt worked better. He grabbed the skin right next to Axel's elbow and twisted viciously. The redhead yelped and pulled away from Roxas with a vague sucking noise.

"What the hell?" he gasped, turning to glare at Demyx.

"We're going to be late. Suck face at school."

Axel sent him a wicked grin. "Your wish is my command, my liege. We shall suck face at school as well. Any other requests as to where I molest my boyfriend?"

Demyx nodded, his own wicked grin appearing. "Yeah. First period," he said. Roxas' eyes widened and he looked at Demyx as if the dirty blonde had just stabbed him through the gut.

"Where?" Axel asked, rising to the challenge. Roxas was looking absolutely panicked now. After years of spending time with Axel and Demyx, he knew what they were like when they got together and started making bets and dares. Others involved or caught in the crossfire were more often then not scarred for life.

"In our first period lit class," Demyx said seriously. "Just bust right in during the middle of the lesson and molest him right there."

"Demyx!" Roxas whined. "Axel, don't you dare, I will castrate you…"

"What do I get for it?" Axel demanded, ignoring his boyfriend's protests.

"I don't know. What do you want?" Demyx asked. Axel looked thoughtful for a long moment before another grin split across his face.

"If I do it, I want you to come to fifth period lunch with a guitar and serenade Zexion Montague and admit your undying love for him in front of the entire cafeteria."

"And if you don't?" Demyx asked.

"Name your price," Axel shrugged.

"Wait a second guys, don't I get any say in this?" Roxas whined, pouting between the taller two.

A brilliant plan formulating in his head, Demyx nodded and looked down at Roxas.

"Of course you do. You get to set Axel's losing condition." Roxas' pout instantly slipped away and he looked a lot more devious then Demyx would have given him credit for. He'd seen that same look on Sora's face before, and he was a bit scared at what it might bring.

"Good. I'll let you know when I think of something good enough," he grinned.

Demyx held out his hand and Axel slapped his own palm against his. They hooked their hands together, brought them up and kissed their own thumbs, then shook and released. It was the super-pact handshake, enacted every time they made a deal that was more then likely to get either one or both of them into trouble.

"Well, we shall see, shan't we?" Axel grinned.

"Yes, my friend, I do believe we shall see," Demyx replied. Between them, Roxas rolled his eyes and opened the passenger seat door.

"You two are retarded. Just get in the car, will you? We're going to be late."

--

Is it bad that this is chapter six and Zexion was nowhere in it? I feel a bit guilty, considering six is his number and all…

I am going to have so much fun writing the bet scene…Free Axel molestation to all who review!


	7. Sexual Assault and Annoying Pop Songs

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…) Song lyrics belong to HelloGoodbye.

Chapter 7

Demyx sat in a comfy armchair in the library, waiting for Zexion to make his appearance. He felt awful for what he was about to do, but it was a lot nicer then anything else that might happen should any sort of relationship continue between them. He listened to the softly playing music in the background hoping that it would calm him down and help him think. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say, and he was still a bit too shocked from that morning's event to even begin to form a coherent sentence. Damn that Axel, always going above and beyond.

The first half of literature had gone quite smoothly. They'd discussed the last act of Macbeth that had been assigned for homework and then proceeded to bring their written analysis of the book up one at a time.

Demyx had been scrawling lazily on his notebook cover as Roxas made his way to the front of the room. He handed his paper over to Miss Gainsborough and was turning to go back to his seat when the door flew open and smacked loudly into the wall.

Every head in the room swiveled as one to stare at the eccentric redhead framed in the doorway. Demyx had to snort back a laugh. What a ham. Roxas, on the other hand, looked slightly terrified at the wicked grin on Axel's face. Demyx had seen that grin before. After being in a relationship with him (admittedly, Demyx's relationship with Axel had lasted all of three weeks and been based mostly on sex until they decided they were better off as friends) it was impossible not to know that look. It had one meaning, and one only. Axel was thinking dirty thoughts, and he planned to act on some, if not all, of them.

"Axel? What are you doing here?" Miss Gainsborough. Axel's eyes trailed from Roxas, whose body he had been looking up and down unabashedly, to the teacher.

"I've come to fulfill a dare," he announced. Almost everyone in the class turned to look at Demyx, giving him a glare-o-death. The identical look on all their faces clearly said, 'by god man, what have you unleashed?' Their bets were common knowledge among the student body, so at the announcement of a dare, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Demyx was behind it.

"I apologize in advance for the mess," Axel declared. Miss Gainsborough barely had time to choke out, "What mess?" before Axel swiped his arm over the top of her desk, knocking all the papers to the floor in one fell swoop.

"On the desk!?" Roxas squeaked before Axel crushed their lips together in a dominating kiss. The entire class went completely and totally silent, eyes wide, jaws slack, as Axel hitched his arms under Roxas' knees and lifted him onto the desk, laying him flat on his back and climbing on top of him. Even Demyx had to admit, they were going a bit far. No one was too shy about seeing those two make out, as they tended to do it in public places, but as Roxas ground his hips up into Axel's things escalated to practically dry sex.

Miss Gainsborough seemed to recover from her state of shock and she picked up the closest heavy book and dropped it on the desk right next to Roxas' head. Roxas, in turn, shrieked and jerk his head up, causing a head collision with Axel, who jerked away, cussing angrily, a hand to his mouth. Roxas seemed to remember where they were and instantly his face flamed.

"Oh! Oh shit!" he muttered.

"Fuck, Roxy, I think you made me bleed!" Axel growled, pressing a finger against his teeth. When he pulled away, he seemed blood-free, so that satisfied him.

"Axel, get out right now before I call security," Miss Gainsborough breathed. Axel grinned, hopping off the desk.

"Don't be like that, Miss G. I'll leave peacefully." Roxas was off the desk now, too, sheepishly picking up the things Axel had knocked to the floor, eyes trained on the ground.

"Well, Dem, how was that?" Axel asked with a grin as he made his way toward the door.

"Above and beyond what I asked you to do, and a bit hot, by the way. You are the king of dares, I bow to you." Axel raised a fist triumphantly. "By the way, never, ever do that in front of me again."

Roxas slammed a pile of paper's on the desk, eyes livid.

"Don't you worry Demyx, he won't," Roxas snarled. "At least not with me!"

Axel's eyes widened like a child who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Roxy?" he questioned.

"You, Axel, are cut off!" Roxas declared, slamming a cup filled with pencils on the desk.

"You don't mean…"

SLAM! "That's exactly…" SLAM "what I mean!" SLAM! "You are not allowed to touch me until further notice!"

Demyx snorted. Roxas couldn't deny Axel for too long. The punishment wouldn't last.

"Roxy!" Axel protested, reaching to take his hand.

"No! Roxas growled, wrenching away. "I'll scream rape, I swear I will!"

They glowered at each other for a long minute of complete and total silence before the bell rang. Everyone in the class stood as one in a scrape of chairs and made their way out the door. Roxas ducked into the crowd and Axel chased after him.

"Don't you run from me, dammit! My legs are longer then yours!"

So…yeah. His morning had been quite interesting. That was probably the most fun he'd had in a long time. But now the fun was over. He had to get serious. He had to think. The song on the station switched and he lost any hope he might have had of getting his thoughts together.

_Just in case they're wondering,_

_they've got us pinned terribly_

_they don't believe our love is real_

_'cause they don't know how real love feels._

At that exact moment, Zexion entered the library. He signed in and immediately made his way over to Demyx. Demyx must have looked stressed, because Zexion frowned as he sat across from him.

_You should know it's true_

_Just now the part about_

_My love for you and how_

_My heart's about to bust_

_Into a thousand pieces_

_So it must be true and_

_They'll believe us too soon_

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Demyx said quietly.

"It looks like something is wrong," Zexion pressed.

"It's…just the song."

Zexion glanced toward the radio behind the librarian's counter.

"Well, I suppose it's annoyingly pop-sounding, but I don't see why that would make you look so upset…"

Demyx glared at him. It wasn't pop. It was…okay, so it was one of the more poppy songs…but it wasn't annoying. It was good. Really good.

"That's Melodious Nocturne," Demyx growled, a little defensive. "I wrote that 'annoyingly pop-sounding' song."

_Baby, it's fact, our love is true_

_The way black is black and blue is just blue_

_My love is true, it's a matter of fact_

_And you love me too, it's as simple as that_

Zexion had enough grace to look embarrassed. "I must admit, I'm not much into Melodious Nocturne. Too techno-poppy for my tastes," he said.

Demyx had to respect his honesty.

"To each his own," Demyx muttered, looking down at his hands. It was true that Melodious Nocturne had gone extremely mainstream since hitting the big time, but it was working for them.

"So why does this song make you frown?" Zexion asked.

"I wrote it for Larxene about three months before she got pregnant. We had just finished fine-tuning it and getting a demo ready when she found out about Lyric. I decided to leave the band to get a real job…"

"And you're resentful?" Zexion asked quietly.

"No!" Demyx snapped. Did Zexion really think he was that petty?

"I would be," Zexion said, pulling a notebook out of his bag and flipping through it, carefully keeping his eyes trained away from Demyx's. "I'd be pissed if people I thought were my friends got famous through my songs."

"Well, they gave me credit for all of them and dedicated the entire first album to me. I even get a cut of every CD they sell and every time they use one of my songs. That's the annoying part."

Zexion glanced up from his notebook, a quick look of confusion coming over his face.

"Before they died, my parents set it up so I can't touch any of the money until I turn twenty-one. They wanted to 'punish me for my indiscretion'. Every time I hear one of those songs I wrote, I remember all the shitty things my parents did to me."

Demyx hadn't realized that he and Zexion had leaned across the table, closer and closer to each other as he spoke. He glanced up and could see the librarians watching them closely, undoubtedly remembering Demyx's spectacle from the day before. He stood up abruptly, motioning for Zexion to follow him. They made their way to the very back of the library, shielding themselves behind a large bookcase. They sat on the floor, side by side, backs rested against the books. Demyx's knees were pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around his legs, fingers tangling together. He kept his eyes trained on the ugly brown and orange-flecked carpet on the floor as he began to speak again.

"When we told them, about Larxene being pregnant, I mean, they freaked out. It was bad enough that I was a faggot, they said, Now I had to go and get a girl pregnant? They called Larx a whore and kicked me out that night. They only let me take what I could carry. So, I packed a bag full of clothes and grabbed my guitar. I stayed at Larx's house for the first week, but then her parents decided it wasn't a good idea. I can't say I blame them, really." Demyx sighed, the memories making his eyes sting, but he refused to cry.

"You know that park across town from here, Franklyn's Field?"

Zexion nodded slowly. "It's right across the street from my house. My mom used to take me there a lot when I was younger."

"The building that they kept locked up during the winter, the place where the summer councilors worked?" Demyx questioned.

Again, Zexion nodded. "The big white one with the pool table?" he asked.

"I slept there at night. One of the window locks was broken, so I got in through that. I slept on one of the shelves under the counter until Roxas convinced Sora to give me a job. I used my first couple of paychecks and sold my guitar so I could afford the down-payment on my shitty little apartment. It was a beautiful blue Les Paul, so I got a couple hundred bucks for it…" Demyx trailed off, wistfully remember the beautiful sound it made when he strummed the strings just the right way…

"I convinced Larx to continue living with her parents. It was better that way, really. I ate when I could get the money and worked as often as I could get the hours. I was always tired and hungry, so I slept through school. It was all just a big disaster. Axel wanted to help out, but I wouldn't let him. I still won't, not really. I don't want Lyric to think it's okay to coast through life on the work of others." Demyx wasn't sure when it had happened, but some time through his monologue, he'd slid farther down the bookcase and Zexion's arm had made its way around his shoulders in a half-embrace. Demyx rested his head against Zexion's shoulder, turning his face into his neck, slowly breathing in the scent of Old Spice and spearmint.

"I was fourteen," he breathed quietly.

As Zexion's arm tightened around him and the other came around to hug him, Demyx knew that he couldn't do it. When Zexion leaned in and kissed him tenderly, Demyx had to give up his plan. And when Zexion sat through the rest of the period and all throughout the next, just holding a shaking Demyx close, he knew that he was already far too emotionally attached. He'd always been unreasonably attracted to Zexion, but maybe it had been a little bit more then he originally thought. Whatever the case might be he was too selfish to let Zexion go. So that was it. Zexion had practically made the decision himself. He would be there for Demyx…and Demyx would hurt him almost beyond repair. Not much of a fair trade.

--

A/N: And thus we are confronted with a bit of Demyx's sad past. I feel a bit bad doing all these mean things to him, but…well, what can ya do, really? If I weren't willing to angst it up, I wouldn't have much of a storyline. By the way, I totally loved writing Axel's dare. I was just imaging that happening in one of my classes…made my whole day, I assure you. Reviews are ama-za-zing. (the button sure looks purple to me...does it look blue to anyone else?)


	8. Time Limit

A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to my mom. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of twenty-four. She was supposed to die at the age of 30 and she just had her 39th birthday in March.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 8

Demyx fiddled with his hands as he stared at the white wall of the hospital. He wasn't sure if the bright colors of the pediatrics ward or the stark white of the rest of the hospital was worse. He hated hospitals. Ariel was busy talking with the doctor, about what he wasn't really sure. Demyx was a bit shocked with himself about how unattached he felt. Almost as if the brain tumor were happening to the friend of a friend. Sure, it was awful, but it really wasn't any sweat off his back.

But it was. It was incredibly life changing, and yet he couldn't really muster up any emotion about it. It was almost as if he became an empty shell as soon as the subject was breeched. It was especially strange because his emotions had been all out of whack lately.

"Demyx!" He looked up at the call, standing and making his way over to the doctor and Ariel as they waved him over.

"Hello Demyx, how are you feeling?" he asked seriously.

"Okay, I guess," the blonde answered with a shrug. Vexen nodded seriously.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions as to what is happening to you. Today we'll take the time to go over them and I'll answer all your questions as best I can," Vexen explained as they made their way toward a small office. Demyx felt vaguely like Vexen was talking to him like he spoke to Lyric when he was trying to explain something to her. He wondered momentarily if he should be offended and then decided that he didn't really care that much.

"Well…I've been having a lot of mood swings lately," Demyx said as he pulled himself up to sit on the counter, swinging his legs back and forth.

Vexen closed the door and sat on his wheeled stool as Ariel took the only chair in the room, pulling out a notebook and a pen, hand poised to take notes.

"Yes, mood swings are a quite common symptom of brain tumors. Have you noticed any other abnormalities lately?" he asked.

Demyx thought about it, eyes trailing over the brightly colored posters, stopping to rest on a diagram of the throat that had everything labeled. "Um…I've had a lot of headaches lately…and I've been really tired for no reason."

Vexen nodded again. "Yes, those are all common symptoms."

"Excuse me, doctor," Ariel interrupted. "I looked up some things online about brain tumors and I was wondering if you could clarify what kind of tumor it is?"

Vexen grabbed that same large manila folder from the day before and pulled out the MRI pictures.

"This is Demyx's brain," he said, outlining the grayish blobs. "This here," he pointed to a rather large bump near the brain stem, "and this here," another large bump somewhere near the top, "are both tumors."

"There are two?" Demyx gasped.

Vexen nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes. I must admit, I've never actually seen someone with two tumors before. It's amazing that you haven't died of a stroke, quite honestly. Anyway, this one here," he pointed again to the large obstruction on the brain stem, "is on the medulla oblongata. It is what we call a brain stem glioma. From the looks of things, it's been growing for a very long time, probably somewhere around late childhood. Possibly from age thirteen or so. It grew very slowly, but now it's so large that the symptoms have started. It's too far down to get with surgery, so I'm going to recommend radiation therapy."

Demyx tore his eyes away from the larynx. "What the hell is radiation therapy?" he demanded. It didn't sound too healthy, all things considered. If Vexen was shocked by Demyx's reaction, he hid it well. In fact, he'd remained perfectly blank face through the entire conversation.

"During radiation therapy, they strap your head down and shoot beams of radiation into your brain to destroy the cancerous cells."

There was a long moment of complete silence in which Demyx let this sink in and then he let out a dull laugh. "That doesn't sound particularly safe," he said.

"Just don't move and you'll be fine," Vexen advised. "Now, the glioma takes precedence because it is so large. We'll do radiation to get rid of it and then after you've had some time to recuperate, we'll do surgery to remove the astrocytoma on your cerebrum and you should be as good as new."

He made it sound so simple.

"No chemotherapy?" Ariel asked with a frown.

Vexen shook his head, leaning back against the wall. "I don't see that to be a good plan of action, considering that the radiation will make his body susceptible to infection and then we will be following almost immediately with surgery. Chemotherapy basically shuts the immune system down and he needs some sort of defense left."

Ariel nodded slowly, writing everything down on her little pad of paper.

"And…this radiation thing, how long is it gonna take?" Demyx asked.

Vexen picked up a folder from the desk and began making little notes in it. "We'll be doing the faster method of radiation, stereotactic radiosurgery. You'll need to come in thirty to forty-five minutes, five days a week, for five to seven weeks."

Demyx could feel his jaw drop. He'd thought he would be in and out, bing, bang, boom. Apparently, he'd been mistaken.

"But…I have school and work and my kid to take care of!" he protested. _And hospitals scare the hell out of me…_

Vexen looked at him seriously. "Demyx, you are a medical miracle. It is simply astounding that you didn't just drop dead years ago. The threat is getting larger and you're pushing your luck. If these treatments don't start immediately, you won't be around much longer to worry about school, work, and your daughter."

Demyx was somewhat shocked by the bluntness, but he had to admit, it worked.

"I feel I must warn you, Demyx, a brain tumor is no matter to be taken lightly. We will do everything we can for you, but it might be in your best interest to begin preparing for the worst. Writing a living will, for example."

Demyx nodded silently, feeling slightly nauseous at the thought. They would do everything they could for him, but he still had to be ready to die.

"What…what's the likeliness that I'm going to live through this?" he asked.

Vexen sighed and looked him straight in the eyes. "Truthfully?" he asked. Demyx nodded determinedly. "With two tumors, their locations, and the size, you have about an eighty percent chance of dying before we can get rid of all the cancerous cells. Even if you do live through the procedures, you won't likely live past the age of twenty-five."

Demyx blinked and nodded, the numbness flooding back through him. How exactly was he supposed to react to that? He'd never thought he'd know when he was going to die beforehand. He especially never thought he would die so young. Then again, who did? He had roughly seven years to live.

"I…I need to go get some air," he said quietly. The sterile smell of the hospital was smothering him, making it impossible to breath. He walked through the halls in a daze until he found the front door and could breath in the fresh air.

So…he was going to die. In seven years, maybe even less then that. Maybe he would die in days, weeks, months. Well. If that was the case…

"I guess it's time to start living," Demyx breathed.

--

Yes…it's short. I know. I took my AP Global exam today and I am completely and totally brain dead. My math teacher thought I was sick, that's how out of it I was. In fact, I came home and took a three hour nap. It is now nine o' clock, and I am fuckin' exhausted… (updated A/N) Yeah, sorry it took so long to get out. I decided to completely wipe out the original chap 8 because it was utterly pointless.


	9. The Time For Serious Discussions

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 9

With instructions to report back to the hospital the next morning at ten o' clock for the first round of radiation, Demyx and Ariel left the hospital. When they'd gotten back to Axel's house, Demyx had told Axel everything Vexen had said. That had led to a long bout of silence that had lasted until Demyx had headed to get Lyric, only to discover that she was fast asleep on the bed in the guest room. Ariel had insisted that he stay another night, and he really didn't want to carry Lyric all the way home anyway, so he agreed. That's how he found himself sitting at Axel's kitchen table at midnight, a glass of vodka on the table in front of him.

He wasn't much of a drinker. He never really had been, but every once in a while he felt the need to be slightly numb to the world. He was always very careful not to get more then buzzed. He didn't want to get smashed and do something stupid. He hadn't actually had a drink since Lyric was born.

He had actually been pretty surprised that he'd been able to find any alcohol in the house. He assumed the vodka had belonged to Axel's father, as Ariel wasn't much of a drinker and Axel wasn't stupid enough to smuggle alcohol into the house.

He took another drink, grimacing at the burn it left in the back of his throat. If he had to drink, his natural choice would not have been vodka, but beggars really couldn't be choosers. He hardly reacted when the overhead lights turned on.

"Demyx, what are you doing up?" Ariel stood framed in the doorway, wearing pajamas and a robe.

"I can't sleep," Demyx shrugged, taking another drink. It was cruel irony that he was so exhausted yet unable to sleep.

She came and sat at the table, frowning at the cup in his hand.

"I'm going to assume that is water. If I'm wrong, kindly don't correct me. I enjoy my illusions." He nodded, draining the glass in a gulp and standing to put it in the sink.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked.

"I'm okay. I just can't sleep."

"Why can't you sleep? Are you stressed, worried?"

"I don't know…I just can't. I close my eyes and my mind won't slow down enough for me to fall asleep. After an hour and a half of rolling around staring at the ceiling I just gave up and decided to come down here and drink my thoughts away…with water, of course."

"You really should try to get some sleep. You won't find the solution to your problems at the bottom of a bottle."

"Yeah, I know. I really don't drink that often. I'm not foolish enough to believe that being constantly drunk will fix problems. It didn't work for my mother; I don't see why it would work for anyone else. Every once in a while, though, I just like to let go. I get a little buzzed, no big deal."

"It is a big deal, Demyx. You're under age, first of all…"

"Yeah, I guess there's that." Demyx looked out the window and let out a sigh. He didn't want Ariel to be upset with him, she meant too much. Ariel sighed and threw her arm over his shoulder.

"You're a smart kid, Dem. I'd hate to see something happen to you because you were trying to find a release in an unhealthy way. You know how I feel about alcohol."

Demyx did know how Ariel felt about alcohol. Axel's father had been almost completely dependent on alcohol until he ruined his kidneys and liver and died from the stress. Ariel had been heartbroken and hadn't allowed alcohol in the house since.

"Yeah, Ariel, I know how you feel. I'm sorry…but I just deal with things in certain ways. Eventually, you just have to learn how to cope."

"You go ahead and cope, Dem. Just don't do it at the cost of your health. I love you like my own son. You can always talk to me. I'm sure Axel will be there for you, too."

"I know that you guys are here for me, but sometimes I just have to do things on my own. You have your job that you love so much and Axel has Roxas and I don't want to get in the way of all that for you…"

"Demyx, you have to know…" Whatever he had to know, he didn't find out, because there was a loud crash from the front hall.

"Fuck!" a voice hissed. Ariel and Demyx glanced at each other before she stood and they made their way into the next room, Demyx standing slightly in front of Ariel just in case. He reached out and flipped on the light, only to find Roxas trying to put up a coat stand that he'd knocked over.

"Hello Roxas," Ariel greeted. Roxas whipped around to look at them and rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little bit embarrassed.

"Um…hi," he said sheepishly. "I was just…"

"Sneaking out at a late hour so I wouldn't catch you in my son's room tomorrow morning?" Ariel asked.

"Um…basically, yeah," Roxas muttered. Demyx watched the scene in amusement, trying not to laugh. Ariel sighed, rolling her eyes. "What am I going to do with you boys? Underage drinking, sneaking around the house at night…it's pretty pathetic when Axel is behaving better then the two of you."

"I wouldn't quite say he was behaving…" Roxas started. Ariel held up her hand to silence him. "Please, don't finish that thought. Look Roxas, I don't care that my son is gay and I don't care that you spend more time here then I do. However, I would prefer you two wait to have sex until I'm not in the house." Demyx couldn't hold back the laughs at the blush that spread across Roxas' face.

"I'm sorry, Ariel. I'll just…go home now…"

"No, no." Ariel waved her hand through the air as if it were the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. "It's much too late for that. You can stay in the guest room tonight. Demyx will sleep in Axel's room. Go to bed, the both of you."

Knowing it was pointless to argue, the two blondes made their way up the stairs.

"Very smooth, Rox, very smooth," Demyx laughed. "You'd have been home free if you hadn't knocked over the coat rack.

"I know!" Roxas groaned. "It was dark and I tripped over a shoe in the hall and fell on the coat rack. It hurt like a bitch too," he rubbed his backside with a pout.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's not the only thing that's hurting right now," Demyx laughed.

"Yeah, well," Roxas blushed. "You know how Axel can be."

Roxas had long gotten over his jealous feelings of Demyx and Axel's relationship. It had taken a while, but now they could easily joke about it, and sometimes even tag team teased Axel.

"Yeah. I know," Demyx laughed, pushing Axel's door open.

"Good night," Roxas said quietly.

"Night Rox." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Did I just hear Roxas?" Axel asked.

"Yes you did. Your mom and I caught him sneaking out and she told him that she'd rather you guys have sex when she's not home and then invited him to say the night."

Axel let out a bark of laughter. "Good ole mom," he sighed.

"Hey, are you decent?" Demyx asked.

"If you consider boxers decent, then yes."

Demyx rolled his eyes. "Good enough, I guess. Is the bed clean?"

Axel laughed again. "Yes. We always clean up after. Don't want mom to find out, ya know? Though, I guess that's moot point now." He sounded half asleep, and suddenly going to sleep didn't seem all that bad of an idea.

"Budge over then," Demyx said, pushing back the blankets on one side of the king sized bed. Axel slid from the middle of the bed and Demyx crawled in beside him, turning to face the wall.

"You smell like booze, dude," Axel muttered, turning over. Demyx sighed and turned over to face him. His bright green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Yeah, well, your mother might have caught me tucking in to your dad's vodka…"

Axel snorted. "Since when do you drink vodka?"

"Since it's the only booze in the house and I was feeling the need for a buzz."

Demyx's eyes had adjusted to the dark and he could see Axel's frown. "What's bothering you?" he asked. There was no point in trying to fool Axel. The redhead knew him almost as well as he knew himself.

"I don't know…everything? I guess I'm just really stressed out. I'm balancing Lyric, high school, Zexion, and a brain tumor. I can't do it all. I'm not superman."

Axel's hand came and rested on his cheek. "You don't have to be superman, babe. You've got me to help you, and Roxas, and my mom…and I'm sure even Zexion will be more of a help then something to just deal with."

"I'm…confused. Zexion confuses me. I like him, a lot more then I should…but I feel like I'm betraying Larxene." He paused and looked up at the ceiling, which was lined with CDs. The moon shining through the window cast a rainbow pattern that was quite mesmerizing.

Axel laughed. "Oh Dem, you're so stupid. You were one of the few people that Larxene actually liked. You were one of the chosen few that she actually loved and she wanted you to be happy. I'm sure that hasn't changed. Does Zexion make you happy?"

"Yeah," Demyx sighed, a small smile coming over his face at the thought of him. "When I'm with him, I'm very happy. But…when I'm not, I always feel so guilty. Like maybe I'm trying to replace Larx."

"I don't believe you're trying to replace Larx. You're moving on, and that's okay. That's healthy. You'll always love Larx, I know that and I'm sure Zexion does to. You have a huge heart Dem. You don't have to push out your love for one person out so you can love another."

"Thanks Axel. That was actually really good advice. Are you always so philosophical after sex?"

Axel laughed. "Yeah, I guess I am. I like to reflect on life and whatnot, you know?"

"Well, I doubt I will ever see your post-sex philosophizing side again, so I guess I shouldn't get used to it."

Axel laughed. "No, I don't think Roxy would like that too much."

"I don't think I'd like that too much either," Demyx laughed. Axel kissed Demyx on the cheek.

"Good night, Dem. Love ya," he murmured, sounding like he was falling asleep as they spoke.

"Love you, too, Ax."

Maybe Ariel was right. Maybe talking about it and getting it off his chest would help more then he'd thought. He was much more relaxed now. Whether it was that or the comfort of Axel's warmth at his back that made it possible, he didn't know, but he fell asleep easily.

--

A/N: Ahahahaha…that part with Roxas and Ariel made me giggle. Doesn't help that I wrote basically this whole chapter while watching SNL. That show does strange things to me…I adore getting reviews.


	10. Break Down

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 10

Demyx stared apprehensively up from the cage that they had strapped his head into. It was supposed to keep him from moving and it worked pretty well from the feel of things.

"Are you sure this is entirely safe?" he asked nervously.

"Well, there is the risk of destroying healthy brain tissue, which could result in radiation necrosis, which can be deadly, but as long as you don't move you'll be perfectly fine," Vexen answered. Demyx wanted to hit something. Why did the man have to be so honest? Couldn't he lie about something to make Demyx feel better? Weren't doctors supposed to have some sort of bedside manner?

"All right, things look pretty good over here. I'll go talk to the radiologist and we'll get started. Miss, if you would come with me." Ariel followed him out the door, leaving Demyx by himself in the room with his head locked in a cage. He had a sudden crazy thought. What if he sneezed while they were shooting the radiation? What would happen to him?

"Are you ready, Demyx?" Vexen's voice came over an intercom next to his head.

"Um…yeah, I guess," Demyx said.

"You won't feel a thing. Just stay completely still, all right?"

"Yeah, okay," Demyx said.

He wasn't sure how long he laid there, but he was on the verge of falling asleep when the door opened and Vexen came in, followed by Ariel.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Really tired," Demyx mumbled.

"That's perfectly normal," Vexen assured him, unlocking the cage from around his head. If you feel any pressure in your head, don't ignore it. Alert someone immediately and come back here."

"Um…why?" Demyx asked, grateful that the metal contraption was no longer strapping him down. He sat up slowly, hoping that he wouldn't pass out as his head went for a spin.

"It's a sign of swelling brain tissue. I doubt there will be a problem, I just thought I ought to tell you. You did really well, Demyx. I'll see you again tomorrow." Demyx stood, head spinning slightly, and followed after Ariel.

"Are you too tired to go to school, Demyx?"

He nodded numbly. "I just want to go to sleep," he muttered.

"We can do that."

As she drove him to his apartment, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Dem, Vexen told me something that you might not like," she said.

He glanced at her, and waved his hand to signal that she continue.

"Well…the radiation is going to eventually cause you to lose your hair. Because of the pattern of the radiation it will come out in patches and he suggested it might be better to just…well…shave your head before that happens."

Demyx nodded numbly. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"Dem…are you really okay with this?" she asked.

"No, not really, but it doesn't matter if I am or not. So go ahead, take it all off."

Ariel sighed. "We'll talk about this more after you've gotten some sleep, okay?"

"All right." Demyx yawned and leaned his forehead against the window, falling asleep almost instantly.

Demyx didn't remember getting out of the car and letting himself inside, but he must have because there was absolutely no way that Ariel could have carried him. When he woke up, it was seven thirty, according to his alarm clock. He'd missed a full day of school. Considering he had only one day left without being audited, this kind of sucked. He didn't know who he was trying to fool, though. There was no way in hell he'd be able to graduate this year. He'd have to be a super-senior next year, no doubt about that.

The blonde sat up, yawning and running a hand through his long blonde locks. He'd have to cut them off. The loss of his hair hadn't really occurred to him before Ariel mentioned it, though it probably should have. He stretched and made his way toward the kitchen, perking up at the smell of food. Spaghetti. Mmmm…

Sure enough, Ariel was standing over a pot of spaghetti in the kitchen. Lyric was at the table, coloring with serious concentration. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, her eyes never left the paper, and her little tongue poked out the side of her mouth. It was adorable.

"You know, you really don't have to take care of me so much. I'm just as capable now as I was before," he said before kissing Lyric on the top of her head.

"I know that, Demyx. I want to help as much as I can, though, and this is one of the only ways you'll let me."

"You really want to help me out? Cut my hair for me."

She froze for a moment and then looked over her shoulder at him.

"Are you sure, Demyx?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. I'll look ridiculous with long hair coming out in patches. Just…don't take it all off. I still want a bit on top…at least for as long as I can."

Ariel nodded seriously. "So you mean like a standard military buzz cut?"

Demyx swallowed harshly and nodded. "Yeah. Like a buzz cut." He couldn't even imagine what he would look like. His hair hadn't been shorter then chin length since he was ten. He'd made his decision, but that didn't mean he wasn't apprehensive about it.

"Okay. I'll go get my things while you eat." She left no room for argument, grabbing her purse and dashing out the door before he could get another word out. It was for the best. He was afraid he might chicken out if she asked him if he was sure again. Demyx served up food for Lyric and then himself, dreading what was to come.

Ariel was a licensed cosmetologist and she owned a shop called True Colors over by the city hall. She was infamous among those with a flair for interesting hairstyles and possibly the best colorist in the entire city. There were a few people who didn't believe the intense red color in her son's hair and her own were natural, merely because of her profession.

Demyx had been using her free services for years, the only help he accepted, and only because she had been cutting his hair for free since he was five. Axel and Demyx's parents had been really good friends up until Demyx had been kicked out. The act had torn a schism between the friends and they still hadn't settled every thing when Demyx's parents died.

He tried not to think as he methodically shoveled food into his mouth. He purposely kept his mind very much blank. He had too much piled on him to allow him to think without driving himself crazy. Apparently, he was really good at zoning out, because the next thing he knew, Ariel was waving her hand in front of his face, he voice sounding worried. "Demyx? Demyx, can you hear me?"

He blinked, eyes focusing, taking in the worried expression on her face.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized. Her face relaxed instantly. "I zoned out…why do you look so worried?"

Now she looked a bit embarrassed. "Well…I was worried that you might be going into catatonic shock…you know, a result of the radiation…"

Demyx couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up from his throat. Ariel scowled at him. "Well, forgive me for being concerned!"

He shook his head, waving his hand in the air as he tried to catch enough breath to speak. "I'm sorry, Ariel. I'm very flattered and comforted by your concern for me, I promise. I'm just wondering if you're going to start hovering over me like an over-protective mother hen, freaking out every time I sneeze."

Ariel rolled her eyes and, quite childishly, stuck her tongue out at him. "Are you ready to cut your hair, or what?" He took one final bite of food and nodded.

"Yeah, lets get this over with, I guess," he muttered through a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Demyx! Don't talk with food in your mouth!" Ariel chastised, brandishing a pair of scissors in his direction.

"Sorry," he muttered, scowling a little as Lyric giggled at the sight of her father getting yelled at. He glanced at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was past eight.

"Looks like it's bedtime for someone," he said, moving to her side of the table and scooping her off the chair and over his shoulder.

"Daddy!" she shrieked in protest.

"Demyx, don't strain yourself…"

"Ariel, the girl is a beanpole. She hardly weighs anything. I'm not an invalid, and god dammit, I'm not going to let canc…something like this get in the way of my relationship with my kid," Demyx snarled. Everything went silent as he marched Lyric into her room, changed her into pajamas, and put her to bed.

When he came back out, Ariel had arranged the kitchen into an impromptu barber's shop. One of the chairs sat in the middle of the kitchen, the small table pushed off to one side. A broom and dustpan were waiting dutifully against one wall, and a small tray with a pair of scissors, a comb, and an electric razor. He pulled off Axel's hoodie and made to put it on the table.

"Put it in my bag. I'll bring it home to Axel tonight," she said quietly. He did as he was told, a feeling of immense guilt building up in his stomach.

"I'm sorry, Demyx. I don't mean to treat you like you're about to fall over and die any minute…I'm just…I'm very worried about you."

He felt like the shittiest person on earth as she started to cry. He whipped around to look at her, eyes wide. She was clutching the back of the chair, head down, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

"Hey…" he tried to calm her down. "Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry, Ariel, I shouldn't have yelled. You…you're just trying to look out for me…I understand that. I'm just…really stressed out…but that's no excuse…" She merely started to cry harder. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't experienced with crying women. Larx would have rather chewed her own hand off then cry in front of someone and his mother…well; the only emotion he'd ever seen out of her was drunkenness.

"Oh Demyx…it's just not fair!" she cried, her voice almost unintelligible.

"What?" he pressed, taking a cautious step toward her. As soon as he did this, she threw her arms up and grabbed him into a hug, nearly squeezing the daylights out of him as she sobbed into his shirt. He patted her head awkwardly, not quite sure what to do.

"You're such a good kid! You always have been! Sure, you made a stupid mistake, but you took responsibility for your actions and your whole life has just been hell! You're a good boy and life has dealt you the shittiest cards! It's not fair!"

He blinked in shock. She was sobbing…for him? She was like a flooded dam in the middle of his kitchen because the way _his_ life had turned out? He brought his arms around her, hugging her just as tightly as she hugged him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"No," he agreed. "It isn't. But…I'm working on accepting it…and god, I can't do this if you're going to break down on me. I…I refuse to die, Ariel, all right? I'm eighteen, I've got my entire fucking life ahead of me and I'm going to live through all of it. I'm gonna raise my kid and eventually go to college. I'm going to get myself out of the shitty situation life has dealt me. I'll deal my own damn cards if I have to. But I am not going to die, dammit. Not now, not because of this."

During his little soliloquy, Ariel had stopped crying and she looked up at him. He eyes were puffy and red, but she looked happy, if not a little guilty.

"You're so strong, Demyx. I'm sorry for breaking down like that. I'm done now, I promise."

He nodded and she pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"All right. How about we get down to business, then?"

Demyx took a deep breath and sat in the chair, waiting as Ariel tied an apron around his neck to keep the hair off his clothes. His hair was pulled into a ponytail and Ariel picked up the scissors.

"This is your last chance to change your mind," she said warning.

"Just do it," he moaned. The was a snipping sound and his head felt suddenly lighter. His hair sprang loose, falling around his cheeks. He let out a small gasp of horror as Ariel held up the ponytail that had formerly been attached to his head in front of his face.

"This is a good couple inches here, Dem. Almost enough to donate to charity."

Demyx snorted. "How about the charity of Demyx Capulet?"

"Not all of your hair will be gone, Dem. Just most of it. You'll still have a bit on top, just like we agreed."

He nodded. "Yeah I know. Keep going."

His stomach dropped as the sound of the buzzing razor reached his ears.

_Good-bye, beautiful hair…_


	11. Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 11

When Demyx entered his first period class, there was quite a noticeable hush. He kept his eyes trained on the floor until he sat heavily at his desk, in which he switched from staring at the floor to staring at the desktop. Apparently, someone named Larry who had been there in '86, thought the moment was epic enough to carve it into the desktop for future generations.

"Hey Dem," Roxas said conversationally. "Something about you is different…I just can't place it…Did you lose weight?" Demyx couldn't keep back the snort of laughter.

"Yeah, I might've lost a couple pounds," he said.

"He didn't lose weight!" Lyric sighed as if they were the dumbest bunch of people she'd ever met. "He cut his hair, silly!"

"Demyx," Miss Gainsborough called sternly. The dirty blonde looked up at the teacher, his eyes wide with feigned innocence. "Mr. Xemnas wants to see you in his office." Demyx sighed heavily. He'd been afraid of this. He was going to have to explain things to the principal. He really didn't want anyone to know, but what could he do? They'd begin to notice eventually. He swung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed Lyric's hand, making his way out of the room, down the stairs, and across the lobby to the main office. The secretary smiled at Lyric.

"He's waiting for you, Demyx. Would you like me to watch your daughter for you?"

"Um…yeah, sure. Thanks." The secretary smiled at Lyric, who pulled herself into a chair to wait for Demyx's return. He entered the principal's office, sitting in the chair in front of the desk. He looked at Demyx, slightly confused. He blinked a few times and then seemed to realize who was sitting in front of him. Demyx had to admit; he looked drastically different without all his hair. He hardly recognized himself, so he couldn't rightfully blame the principal.

"Demyx," he said sternly. "I'm sure you know why you're here."

"Yes sir," Demyx answered, trying to avoid making eye contact.

Principal Xemnas leaned back in his chair, his fingers laced together and resting on his chest. They stared at each other in silence for at least five minutes. Demyx was beginning to squirm when the principal finally spoke again.

"I've pulled quite a few strings to allow you to have your daughter come to class with you. I've given you this opportunity because I want to see you graduate so you can be successful and make a good life for you daughter. Please, explain to me why you're throwing this chance away," he said calmly, amber eyes flashing.

"Principal Xemnas, things are a lot more complicated then you might think," Demyx said quietly. "I…" he paused. "Can you not tell anyone about this?" he requested.

Xemnas looked thoughtful for a moment, before he finally nodded slowly. "As long as it will not affect those around you in a negative way, I suppose I can keep a secret," he said cautiously.

"I've been having some medical problems lately…and, well…" He took a deep breath. He was going to repeat it out loud. Ridiculous as it might seem, every time he said it out loud it seemed more and more real. "The doctor found two tumors in my brain. He says it's a miracle I'm still alive. I missed school yesterday because I took my first round of radiation and I was just so exhausted afterwards that I couldn't even begin to contemplate coming."

Xemnas' eyes had gone wide in shock and pity. Ah, he hated pity.

"I have to have surgery to have the other tumor removed. There's no way I can have my graduating requirements this year."

"Why did you come today, then, if you've given up hope?" Xemnas asked slowly, almost as if he were trying so very hard to understand and just couldn't manage it.

Demyx sighed and leaned back to look at the ceiling. "It's important to me that no one knows. I don't want Lyric to get scared. Everything will get cleared up and she'll never know any different. That is how I want it." Principal Xemnas nodded grimly. "Very well, Demyx. You're welcome to attend any time you want. We might even be able to set up summer school so that you might be able to make up your missed credits."

Demyx got to his feet and nodded. "We'll see," he answered noncommittally. He wasn't even sure he would make it to summer school…

"You're dismissed, Mr. Capulet. Mrs. Thomas will give you a pass back to class."

Demyx pulled himself to his feet, one hand coming up to massage his temples. The headache was returning. The headaches were a bit annoying, even if they only really happened in the morning. They appeared from nowhere with a vengeance and got better as the day grew older. He wondered how he could have gone so long without the annoying symptoms. How could he not have noticed such a thing before? He handed his passbook to Mrs. Thomas with one hand and took a hold of Lyric's hand with his other.

"Bye!" Lyric waved as they made their way out. "Are you in trouble, daddy?"

Demyx smiled and shook his head to reassure her.

"No, I'm not in trouble. I just had some things I needed to talk about with the principal. No big deal, really." Lyric smiled up at him and he smiled back softly. They were silent the rest of the way until they reached his class again. Miss Gainsborough hardly glanced at his pass before handing it back to him and motioning for him to sit.

A wave of exhaustion passed over him as he sat and tried to concentrate on the lesson. He leaned his head against his hand and closed his eyes. He'd just listen with his eyes closed. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so tired. Yeah…that was good. Just…resting his eyes.

_A fourteen-year-old Demyx rolled over and glared as a fourteen-year-old Axel burst into his bedroom and jumped on the sleeping blonde._

"_What the hell is your problem?" he groaned, burying his head under his pillows._

"_Babe, you'll never guess what happened!" Axel gushed, seemingly unaware of his best friend's less-then-enthusiastic attitude._

"_You burned the high school down so we don't have to start there come the fall?" Demyx asked, giving up on getting the redhead to go away._

"_No! Better!"_

_Demyx frowned, looking at his friend. Better then fire?_

"_Enlighten me, Ax. What's so amazing?" Demyx wasn't really much of a morning person, whereas Axel was an all the time person._

"_You know that house next door to mine, the one that's been up for sale for like, a hundred years?" he questioned._

_Demyx nodded, waking up a little more, slowly joining in on Axel's excitement._

"_People started moving in this morning! There were kids, Dem!"_

_Demyx grinned, standing up and yanking off his shirt in preparation to get dressed. He loved new people! They were so interesting. The town was so small, not many people moved there. Everyone in the town, with a few exceptions, had known each other since childhood. They'd all grown up together, so the town had virtually no secrets. The bad part about this was "scandals". If something happened that a few didn't agree with, the people involved were basically ostracized. When Axel and Demyx had come out of the proverbial closet (as a couple, no less) there had been a big blowout between Demyx's and Axel's parents, but things had eventually been resolved and (mostly) forgotten about. They'd been lucky._

_After Demyx was dressed, the made their way outside, hopped on their respective bikes, and took off for Axel's house. Sure enough, there were several people traveling from a large truck to the house carrying boxes and various pieces of furniture. Among these were two blondes that looked to be about their age and an older brunet boy who looked somewhere around seventeen or eighteen._

"_I've got dibs on the cute blonde," Axel whispered.  
"How do you know he's gay?" Demyx demanded._

"_If he's not, he will be," Axel grinned and started across the lawn. Demyx let out a laugh and chased after his friend. They approached the trio and that was when Demyx got his first real look at the girl. She was cute. Cuter then the blonde boy, even. A few inches shorter then Demyx, with blonde hair left mostly loose with two blonde pigtails on top of her head. Her eyes were big and blue, but she looked anything but innocent. That might have been due to the wicked smile that graced her features, almost as if by second nature._

"_Hey…hey, Babe, you still with us?" Demyx blinked and realized that they were all staring at him, Axel waving a hand in front of his face._

"_Oh…yeah, sorry."_

_Axel quirked an eyebrow at him and then turned his attention back to the blue-eyed trio._

"_Hi. I'm Axel."_

_Demyx rolled his eyes and mouthed the next words that came from his friend's lips. "A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" The girl let out a bark of laughter and Demyx grinned, satisfied with his ability to make her laugh._

"_I'm Demyx."_

"_I'm Larxene. This is my twin Roxas. The older buffoon is Sora," the girl introduced._

_Axel grinned. "Roxas, huh? Do you speak, Roxy?"_

"_He will eventually. He's a shy little bitch…"_

"_Fuck you!" Roxas snapped, shoving her arm._

_Axel had opened his mouth to try and work his magic on Roxas when they heard a voice behind them. The person was stage whispering, pretending to be quiet when really they wanted to be heard more then anything._

"_I'd be careful about letting your children hang around with those boys."_

_Demyx could feel his body involuntarily stiffening and he glanced at Axel, who now looked more pissed off then teasing._

"_What, those two? Why not? Are they trouble-makers?" This second voice was curious, concerned._

"_Well, they're not so much trouble makers…but…well, they're gay. The both of them."_

_There was a long silence, where Roxas' eyes widened and he looked as if someone had just informed him his mother was the circus' very own bearded lady and Larxene raised her eyebrows in slight amusement._

"_Well." The concerned voice from before now sounded a bit angry. "I hardly think that will be a problem, considering both my sons are also gay."_

_Silence and then an embarrassed cough. "Oh." Larxene started laughing, doubled over, clutching her stomach._

"_I like them, Roxas. I think we should keep them around," she declared. Roxas' only answer was a nod._

_Demyx, still fourteen, though six months older then before stared nervously down at the panting girl underneath him._

"_What? You don't want to have sex with me?" she asked, looking a bit hurt before pulling him down for another deep kiss._

"_No, Larx. It's not that. You know I love you…"_

"_Then what?" she demanded, grinding her hips against his, making him moan in pleasure. "You want me, I can feel that. What's the problem?"_

"_Well…I've never done this with a girl before," he admitted. _

"_It'll be the same with me as it was with Axel just…a bit easier," she panted._

"_I've never been dominant." He let out a low moan as her fingers dipped under the waist his boxers. She sent him a wicked grin as she yanked the offending cloth away, leaving them bare against each other._

"_Be a man, Demyx. Dominate your woman." So he did._

_Larxene stared at him, nearly two months later. She was nervous, in a way he'd never really seen her before._

"_What? What's wrong, Larx?" Her face was paler then usual. She looked almost scared. He was beginning to freak out a little bit and he really wished she would just spit it out._

"_I…I'm pregnant," she said. He almost wished she hadn't said anything._

_"It's a girl!" The cord was cut and she was wrapped in a pink blanket and handed to Larxene. Larx was smiling wider then Demyx had ever seen her, the tear tracks on the side of her face almost melting away with the brilliance as Larxene looked down on their baby girl. She had Larxene's big blue eyes. She was beautiful, perfect. Demyx fell in love with her instantly. _

_After hours of visiting, Demyx stepped out to get something to eat from the cafeteria. If he had known, he wouldn't have gone. It was only when an alarm went off and a voice came over the announcements saying, "This is a Dr. Child. This is not a drill," that he knew something was terribly wrong. When the hospital was locked down and everyone was being checked, he grew nervous. When a police officer came rushing into the cafeteria, calling for Demyx Capulet, he felt his heart drop. When he was lead into a back office where a woman was chained in handcuffs, sobbing uncontrollably and a nurse handed him his new baby girl, he knew things would never be the same, even more so then he had originally thought._

"_This woman tried to kidnap your baby from the hospital," the doctor said solemnly. "The police were able to get her back. As for her mother…"_

_Somehow, he'd known. Ever since he saw the sobbing woman, he'd known exactly what the doctor was going to say._

"_She was shot in the chest. We did all we could…but I'm afraid it wasn't enough. I'm sorry."_

--

A/N: I sorta have an obsession with people getting shot in the hospital… Yes, and we discover what really happened to Larxene. Now, for those of you who thought she died while giving birth, I shake my head at you for being so unoriginal. By the way, a Dr. Child is a hospital alert for when a child goes missing. The memories aren't too important. They're just my way of giving you an insight on Demyx's past. Tell me what you think, I revel in the attention!


	12. Run Away part 1

A/N: Omigod, so I totally screwed up because I deleted that one chapter...I accidentally posted 10 in 9's place and 11 in 10's place and so on...so, yeah...go back and read chapter 9 again because it is completely different then what it was...

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 12

"Babe, the phone is for you."

Demyx took the phone from Axel's hand, noticing the displeased grimace on Zexion's face at the nickname.

In the past two months, Demyx and Zexion had grown nearly inseparable and infinitely closer. He'd taken to hanging around with Axel and Roxas almost as much as Demyx himself did. Still, in all that time, two things had not changed. Zexion had not grown any more comfortable with Axel and Demyx's close affection, which was understandable. Who wanted to see his boyfriend kiss someone else, even if it was just an innocent cheek kiss? Also, Demyx had still not told Zexion about his tumors, one of which would be completely gone after work that very day.

Zexion wasn't stupid. He knew something was up. He knew Demyx wasn't telling him something, but also trusted him enough to not force an answer out of him. Demyx loved that about him.

He was understanding, smart, funny, and best of all; he was really good with Lyric. Zexion wasn't much of a children lover, but he went out of his way to be kind to Lyric and Demyx greatly appreciated that. Lyric loved him, of course, and she had taken to calling him 'Daddy Zexion', which had greatly embarrassed Demyx and made Zexion a bit uncomfortable, but they'd both adjusted eventually and now it was considered normal. Of course, Axel loved poking fun at it.

Zexion and Roxas got along really well, both having a bit of the same sense of humor and a great love of reading. Zexion and Axel, on the other hand, clashed a bit. They got along for Demyx's sake, but Axel thought Zexion was an "arrogant jerk" and Zexion thought Axel was a "frivolous moron". As long as they weren't left alone, though, they were civil to each other, and that's all Demyx could really ask.

"Hello?" he asked, holding the phone to his ear.

"Demyx, hi. This is Kairi."

His heart rate picked up.

"What is it, is Lyric all right?" His friends looked over at him in concern at the desperate tone of his voice, Axel's eyes watching him in the rearview mirror rather then the road. Kairi laughed. "Yes, yes, she's fine. I'm sorry if I scared you. I was just calling to ask your permission to take Lyric out tonight."

Demyx let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand at them to signal that everything was okay.

"Where do you want to take her?"

"I was thinking out to dinner, a movie, and then she could stay the night at my place. A girl's night, ya know?"

It was like a blessing in disguise. He wouldn't have to take care of Lyric while he was tired from his radiation.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. But…why?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Demyx, but I think the girl needs some feminine affection."

"Feminine affection? What does that mean?" He had to admit, he was a bit offended. Was she suggesting his…masculine affection wasn't enough?

"I don't mean that in a bad way, really. You do a wonderful job with Lyric. She couldn't ask for a better father. I just mean…the girl spends all her time with males. Her parental figures are both male, not to mention she spends most of the rest of her time with Axel and Roxas. I just think she needs some feminine touches in her life."

Demyx took a deep breath and calmed himself. She had a point, really. No reason to be mad about the truth.

"Yeah, maybe that is a good idea. You girls have fun."

"We will. Goodbye." Demyx snapped the phone shut and handed it over to Axel, and then laid his forehead against the back of Roxas' seat.

"Is everything all right?" Zexion asked, his hand running soothing circles over Demyx's back.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just pretty tired today."

"You're tired everyday," Zexion frowned. "Tired enough to skip a total of three weeks of school in the last month."

Demyx groaned, wishing the seat would swallow him whole. He hated having this argument with Zexion, one who based so much importance on academics.

"Zexy, I already failed the year, will you drop it? I'll test out this summer and it'll all be over. No more school for me until Lyric is older." Zexion fell silent, though Demyx was sure he would have persisted more had they been alone.

Luckily, though, they pulled up to Nicky Doodles. Demyx hardly waited for Axel to stop the car before he kissed Zexion quickly and made his escape. He knew Zexion hated PDA, but Demyx still claimed a kiss anytime he could. In a strange way, it reassured him that everything was real.

He made his way inside, waving as he passed people before going to clock in. Sora and Riku were making out against a wall in the very back and Demyx rolled his eyes at them as he passed. Those two couldn't be left alone together for more then two minutes without starting something.

"Can't you guys do that in the office? I mean, I'm all for free porn, but not so much when the stars are people I know," Demyx joked. They pulled away from each other with what looked like a bit of difficulty and Sora grinned.

"Hello," Riku greeted with a half wave.

"Hi Riku."

"How're you feeling?" Sora asked, looking a bit more serious.

"Okay. Tired, but that's how it is. I actually have my last round of radiation today," Demyx said, shoving his hoodie in his locker.

"Ah, shit, So, I've got to go. I promised my brother I'd help him with something today."

"I'll see you at home later?" he asked. Riku nodded and kissed him quickly before making his way out.

"I didn't know Riku had a brother," Demyx frowned. Sora nodded.

"Yeah, a younger brother. I think he's around your age, actually…" Sora shrugged and made his way back toward his office. Demyx watched him go before heading up to work at the counter.

Zexion leaned back in his desk chair, staring at the ceiling dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars. His brother had helped him arrange them in the shape of the constellations when he was in grade school and he'd never gotten around to taking them down. They barely glowed anymore, but the sentiment was still the same.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. His brother was supposed to be there in ten minutes to help him move their mother's things to the attic. The woman had gone crazy and ordered an entire new bedroom set. She had then informed her sons that they were to carry her old furniture into the attic and the new furniture to her bedroom. Not a lot of fun, in Zexion's opinion. He wondered why she didn't have the movers bring in the new furniture, as it was their job, but his mother wasn't exactly the sanest woman on the planet.

"Hey, Zexion! Are you home?"

Zexion stood and made his way down the stairs to see his older brother grinning at him from the front hall.

"Hello Riku," he greeted.

"Hi. Have the movers come yet?" Riku got right down to business, glancing out the window as if a furniture truck might have snuck up and parked in front of the house between the time he came inside and that moment.

"No."

"Good. I'm hoping that if we can get all mom's stuff in the attic we can get the movers to carry the stuff inside before she finds out."

Zexion sent a wry smile at his brother. "That is not a bad idea."

So they set to work.

Two hours later, all the furniture was cleared out and the two silver-haired brothers sat on the floor of their mother's room, catching up on things. It had been nearly three months since they had last spoken for more then five minutes.

"How are things going with Sora?" Zexion asked. Despite his bit of an anti-social issue, Zexion liked Sora. Of course, it was nearly impossible not to like Sora, but that was a bit beside the point.

"Great," Riku answered, his green eyes lighting up. "So is really great. Well, he's been a bit stressed out lately…"

"Why?" Zexion asked.

Riku brushed his bangs out of his eyes, a bit of a nervous habit of his.

"Well, a friend and employee of his is battling through two different brain tumors right now. You know Sora, he has concern for everyone."

Zexion blinked slowly. "Two? That's horrible." He wasn't even aware that a person could live through two tumors.

"Yeah, he's worried. I guess it's hitting him more then it would normally since they're so close. It's his niece's dad," Riku explained. "You might know him actually…He was Sora's sister's boyfriend. You remember her, you guys used to hang out a lot. His name was…oh damn, what was his name? Um…D something…"

Zexion's heart pounded in his chest. His breathing quickened and he could even feel his head spin just the slightest. He knew that Demyx was hiding something…but could it really be something so awful?

"Ah, Demyx! His name is Demyx."

Apparently so. After a long moment of numb shock, he felt anger. How could Demyx not have told him this? How could he have thought it was okay not to share something this colossal?

"Yo, Zexion, are you all right? Where are you going?" He could vaguely hear his brother calling after him as he made his way downstairs, grabbing Riku's keys off the counter. He passed his mom at the front door.

"Oh, Zexion, the movers called. They can't have the furniture delivered today, so I'll need you and Riku to bring my bed back down…Zexion? Are you listening?"

He slid into the driver's seat and started the engine, taking off down the street just as Riku rushed out after him. He didn't really know where he was going until pulled to a stop outside Nicky Doodles. Demyx was just walking out the front door towards another car. He could see a redheaded woman sitting in the driver's seat waiting patiently for him. Zexion came to a screeching halt and jumped out of the car, storming over to his boyfriend. Demyx looked shocked, stopping and staring at him as he came to a stop right in front of him.

"You son of a bitch!" Zexion snarled. Demyx's blue eyes widened and he took a step back in shock. "How could you not tell me? How long were you going to lie to me?" He wasn't yelling. However, his voice had settled down to an icy chill. It was working, apparently, because Demyx looked about two feet tall.

"I didn't want you to know," Demyx whispered.

"Why? Am I not important enough to know these things?" Zexion demanded.

"No, that's not it, Zexy. I was…I was scared…"

"How the hell do you think I feel? I couldn't even find out from you! I had to find out from my brother on accident!" Demyx's eyes were watering; he looked on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry, Zexy! I…"

"When was I going to find out? When you died?" Demyx looked as if he'd been slapped and Zexion wished he hadn't said that. Still, he was angry and his mind wasn't working too rationally at the moment.

"I wanted to tell you…"

"Obviously not, Demyx. I've been here everyday for the past two months! You had every opportunity and you didn't bother!"

Sora came rushing out, his blue eyes wide.

"Zexion! What the hell is going on out here?" he demanded.

"You want to know what's going on here? My fucking boyfriend didn't think to tell me that he's dying!" Zexion snapped, his voice finally escalating to a yell.

"Shit…Riku told you," Sora said quietly.

"At least someone did!" Zexion snapped.

"I was going to tell you, Zexy! I was…"

"Forget it, Demyx," Zexion growled. "You've been lying to me all along. I don't want anything to do with you." He turned briskly on his heel, slid into Riku's car, and peeled out of the parking lot and back toward his house to find his brother. He had questions, and maybe asking them would distract from the tremendous guilt he was feeling.

Demyx stared blankly at the passing scenery. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Everything had been fine. Great, in fact, and suddenly Zexion knew his secret and everything sucked. Demyx was almost ready to cry. But he wouldn't. He could be strong on his own, even if he really didn't want to be.

"Are you all right, Demyx?" Ariel asked quietly after a good twenty minutes of silence.

"No. I don't want to talk about it," he muttered. She fell silent and he continued to stare at the flashing scenery, though he didn't really see it. He'd get his radiation done and he'd go home…to an empty house. To spend the night alone. Yeah. He didn't need Zexion Montague. But God, he really wanted him.

--

A/N: Yeah, so if any of you missed that, this chapter has moved us two months into the future. I couldn't help the bit of angst. It was completely necessary. What's a story without a lover's quarrel? Review and you can share my birthday snack with me. The snack consists of a single cookie the size of a paper plate (made for my sixteenth birthday by my friend Kenzi Van Slyke) and a 2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper, both of which I feasted upon while writing this chapter.


	13. Reconciliation

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

EDIT: I removed the lemon because I really, really didn't like it. It was pretty bad. So, yeah, sorry if you've read it before and are now confused.

Chapter 13

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with us tonight?" Ariel asked as Demyx opened the passenger side door.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I need some time to myself. Thanks, though."

"Any time, Demyx, you know that."

He slammed the door closed and walked up the path to his apartment, fishing his keys out of his pocket as he went. He was so exhausted, but it was worth it. The last round of radiation, done. He only had one tumor left and it was the less dangerous of the two. He wasn't exactly wild about the thought of his skull being cut open and part of his brain cut out, but…hell, what other choice did he have? They'd spent an extra two hours at the hospital, going over everything they needed to for the surgery that was to take place in three days (the sooner the better, Vexen said) and Demyx was never more excited to see his bed then he was right now.

He collapsed on his mattress as soon as he was in the room, curling into a ball on his side and falling asleep instantly.

_"Demyx! Demyx are you still with us?" Demyx blinked, looking at Marluxia, who was waving a hand in front of his face._

"_Sorry, what was that?" Demyx asked._

"_We were just talking about places we could send our demo to," Luxord answered._

_Demyx was fourteen, sitting in his band mate Saix's garage. Marluxia, the pink-haired lead singer looked slightly concerned._

"_Are you all right?" he asked. Demyx nodded, shifting his eyes to Luxord, who was fiddling with the tuning pegs on his bass._

"_Yeah…I'm okay. Sorry, I'm just really distracted right now."_

_Saix twisted his drumsticks and nodded. "Yeah, no fuck. This is the third time we've had to pull you out of your trance there, Dem."_

_Demyx sighed. "Yeah, I know, I know. Sorry."_

"_What's on your mind, Dem?" Marluxia asked gently. Demyx couldn't look into his soft brown eyes. It would break him. Instead, he focused on the rose tattooed around his wrist, the thorny vines twisting to wrap up the back of his hand and around his middle finger._

"_I…I have to quit the band," he said quietly. There was a long moment of complete and total silence before the blowup._

"_What the hell do you mean you're quitting?" Saix._

"_You pansy ass! After how long we've worked?" Luxord._

"_Are your parents making you?" Marluxia._

_Demyx took a deep breath, forcing himself to look into the faces of his band mates._

"_Looks guys, I'm really sorry. I'm not just quitting for no reason. I haven't given up hope, I really think you guys can make it and my parents…it has nothing to do with them. I'm quitting because…"_

"_You damn well better be dying, Demyx!" Saix growled. They all stared at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to reveal he'd contracted some rare blood disease and would drop dead any moment._

"_Larxene is pregnant," he said finally. They all stared and finally Luxord snorted. "Damn, Dem. I didn't know you had it in you."_

"_Fuck you!" Demyx snapped. Just like that, he knew things would be okay between them._

_"Demyx. Get up and spend some time with your pregnant girlfriend." Demyx blearily opened his eyes to see Larxene scowling down at him. He tried not to laugh, but the look of tiny Larxene with her pregnant belly, her hands petulantly on her hips, and a glare on her face was possibly the funniest thing he'd ever seen._

"_You didn't walk here, did you?" he demanded._

"_No!" she snapped. "Zexion's brother gave us a ride."_

"_Good," he got to his feet, kissed her quickly and headed toward the bathroom to shower. His crazy girlfriend._

_"I…I just don't understand. Why?"_

_The police officer looked solemn, his hands clasped together in front of him, eyes flicking everywhere but directly at Demyx._

"_Well, son, sometimes people die. It's God's request…"_

"_No," Demyx shook his head impatiently. "Not why is she dead. I think that's pretty damn obvious. Why did that crazy bitch try to kidnap my daughter? Why the hell was she after my kid?"_

"_There's no need for that kind of language…"_

"_Hell yes, there is! My girlfriend is dead and my daughter was almost kidnapped! I'd say that's a damn good reason!"_

"_You'll have to control yourself or I won't answer your questions!" he snapped. Demyx blinked in shock and then took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. When he trusted himself to speak he said, "All right. I'm sorry. But please…why?"_

_The officer seemed satisfied, for he nodded and started to speak. "It turns out the woman had a miscarriage about a week ago. She was distraught and being released from the hospital today. She says that she passed by the nursery and your daughter smiled at her. She deluded herself into believing that your daughter was hers."_

"_She lost her daughter and then decided that she would wreak the same pain on someone else?" Demyx breathed. "What a bitch!"_

"_Are you going to press charges?"_

_Demyx let out a dull laugh. "I can't afford to press charges."_

Demyx awoke with a start to a pounding on the front door. He glanced at the clock, shocked to see that it was nearly eight o' clock at night. He was annoyed that someone had woken him up, because he was still quite exhausted. The pounding on the door started again.

"I'm coming, damn it! Hold your fucking horses!" he yelled, pulling himself out of bed and toward the front door. Who made a house call at eight o' fucking clock? Surely this person knew this was past decent visiting hours? He unlatched the chain and slid the deadbolt, pulling the door open, ready to let loose his frustration and yell at whoever was behind the door, only to see Zexion. Any coherent thought he might have had flew out the window.

"Demyx," was all Zexion said by way of greeting. "Can I come in?"

Demyx motioned for him to enter, watching in amazement as he stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him.

"We need to talk," he said seriously.

"No kidding," Demyx breathed.

Zexion made his way into the kitchen and sat at the table, staring at the wall as if it would spell out exactly what it was he wished to say.

"I had no right to do what I did earlier," Zexion said finally. "It was your decision whether you wanted to tell me or not and I really can't fault you for that. I just…it hurts that you didn't bother to tell me. I want to know why, Demyx. Why didn't you tell me?"

Demyx took a deep breath, sitting in the chair across from him. He really hadn't been expecting to have this conversation so soon. He hadn't even bothered to try gathering his thoughts. He was going to have to flounder his way through. What fun.

"Zexy…Zexion." He wasn't exactly sure what was happening between them anymore. The nickname seemed a little too intimate if Zexion had truly broken things off. "I was scared to tell you. I found out that very same day when we decided to go out…I was a mess and I needed to feel loved…so I let you kiss me. I…felt guilty. I was pretty sure I was going to die and I didn't want to hurt you. So I decided that I would break it off before anything could really happen. I waited for you in the library the next day to do it…but you were so sweet and you listened and you let me cry on you…and I couldn't let you go. I knew it was selfish, but I couldn't help it. I craved how loved you made me feel."

Zexion was studying the tabletop, the kitchen counters, the walls, anything but looking at Demyx.

"I thought if I told you, you might run away. I'm not worth a kid and a brain tumor, I know that. But…as time went on I started to see how good you were with Lyric and how devoted…and I knew that you wouldn't desert me…but I was still scared to tell you because I thought you would be mad that I didn't tell you initially. I didn't want you to be mad at me, so I kept it a secret. I guess…I was trying to protect me by protecting you from the truth."

Zexion shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face. "I went ahead and did just what you thought I'd do," he murmured. "I got angry and I ran away."

"I don't blame you," Demyx said quietly. "I won't blame you if you get up and leave right now. I'd have no right to."

Zexion slammed his hand on the table. "I'm not leaving, Demyx. I'm too fucking dependent on you now to just get up and walk away. There's a reason I couldn't stay away for more then a few hours. It sounds pathetic, but I need you. I'm staying. I'll stay until you tell me to go away, I promise."

Demyx looked shocked, his blue eyes widening.

"But why?" he breathed.

"Because I love you." The words rushed past his lips before he could stop them. Their lips met at the same moment, as if drawn together by a magnetic force. As Zexion's hands came up under Demyx's shirt, the blonde pulled away and cocked an eyebrow with a small grin on his face.

"Lets go to my room."


	14. Run Away part 2

A/N: I thank you for your dedication to Demyx's table fund. I got more reviews then ever on that last chapter and we raised somewhere around 70. Grazie, guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 14

Demyx let out a contented sigh and tightened his grip around his boyfriend, burying his face in the pale silver hair in attempts to lull himself back to sleep. Zexion, however, let out a pained grunt and pulled himself out of Demyx's arms.

"Not so tight," he murmured, before his nose wrinkled in disgust. "I need a shower."

Demyx merely laughed, feeling more relaxed the he had in weeks. He reached up and looped his arms around Zexion's neck, pulling him back down on him. He moved to stroke his back, fingers freezing at the feeling of jagged skin and Zexion's small gasp. He vaguely remembered scratching a bit last night, but he hadn't realized he'd drawn blood.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Zexy!" he moaned, his chill feeling instantly evaporating. Zexion kissed him softly and shook his head.

"It's fine, Demyx. Just a few scratches. I don't mind." Despite his calming words, Demyx felt guilty. "Lets go get cleaned up." Demyx dutifully led the way to the bathroom, turning on the shower. It was a complicated rig, where you had to turn the knob three times to the right, jerk it out, twist it once to the left and push it back in before the water would even consider turning on. He made to leave Zexion alone, coming to a hopeful stop when he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned to look at Zexion over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zexion asked, pulling him toward the shower, which was now steaming.

"I was going to give you some privacy," Demyx answered with a grin. Zexion shook his head.

"Oh no. You caused the mess, you clean it up." Demyx gave him a sarcastic salute before following him into the shower.

After spending nearly an hour in the shower, effectively managing to dirty themselves after getting clean, forcing them to again get clean and eventually start the cycle over (until the water grew cold, that is), Demyx settled himself into a chair, shifting around until he could find a comfortable position. He preferred being dominated, but damn the repercussions of the act to hell. The two didn't speak much, but they also didn't seem to be able to keep their hands off each other, whether it was just a simple brush of skin in passing or a kiss. Zexion had borrowed one of Demyx's shirts, as it was baggier then one of his own so it rubbed against the gashes on his back less. Demyx liked the way he looked in it, even if he did feel totally guilty every time he thought about why he was wearing it.

There came a pounding knock on the door. Demyx let out a groan of horror as he pulled himself to his feet. He limped to the front door and pulled it open, only to see Axel and Roxas on the porch. Axel looked livid and Roxas just sent Demyx a half wave.

"What did he say to you?" Axel demanded.

"What did who say?" Demyx asked wearily, walking back to the kitchen, trying to keep from limping as he went. He settled himself in a chair and waited as his friends followed them into the kitchen. Axel looked like he was about to throw a fit, when suddenly his expression relaxed and he looked amused. As the wicked grin split across his face, Demyx knew that Axel knew.

"Damn. I'd come in ready to hunt Zexion down and beat the hell out of him for hurting you…of course, I totally thought he'd hurt you in a different way…"

Oh. With the events of the night before, Demyx had forgotten about the argument they'd had that was the catalyst to it all.

"What the hell are you on about?" Zexion demanded, his eyes blank and cool as he looked at Axel.

"Don't try to hide it. Axel knows all. You guys totally had sex," Axel grinned.

"And what makes you think that?"

"Demyx keeps shifting in his chair because his ass hurts and you, my dear Zexion, are sitting so that your back doesn't touch the chair, not to mention the monumental hickey on Dem's neck and the fact that you're wearing his clothes."

"What does my back have anything to do with it?" Demyx flushed, focusing his eyes on the table. He really wished Zexion had dropped it.

Axel let out a barking laugh. "You forget there, Zexy. I've ridden the Dem train, too. I know what he's like. I have a goddamn scar from those nails of doom…"

"Axel!" Demyx yelled, now completely mortified. "Just stop!"

"Oh come on, Dem. It's not like everyone didn't already know about your pain fetish."

"Roxas didn't!" Demyx wailed.

"No, I did," Roxas corrected. "Axel told me years ago."

Demyx glared at the redhead. "Why?" he cried.

Axel grinned turned his back to them, yanking his shirt up over his head. A stark white line traced from just under Axel's shoulder blade to the middle of his side. Demyx had Roxas had both seen it before, but Zexion looked a bit taken aback. Demyx buried his face in his arms on top of the table, refusing to look at them.

"It's pretty damn visible, Dem. Roxy wanted to know, so I told him."

"Afterwards I wished I'd never asked," Roxas sighed. Demyx didn't look up from his arms. God, his friends were so damn embarrassing. Zexion would never want to touch him again. And then, there came a sound that Demyx hardly ever heard, though he did enjoy it more then anything in the world. Zexion let out a low chuckle. Demyx looked up at his boyfriend in shock. That had been the last thing he was expecting.

"Hey, Dem!" Axel exclaimed, suddenly excited.

"Hey Ax!" Demyx replied, imitating the redhead's excitement.

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

Demyx could feel the confusion spread over his face. Had they made plans that he'd forgotten about?

"Did we have plans or something?" he asked, glancing at Zexion to see if he knew anything. Zexion merely shrugged before letting out a small hiss as the movement stretched his back out.

Roxas grinned and shook his head, exchanging a glance with Axel who looked just as amused.

"I can't believe you don't know what I'm talking about!" Axel exclaimed.

"What? What is it? Is it really important?" Demyx asked, a feeling of panic rising up in his chest.

"Well, I suppose it isn't all that important. What day is it tomorrow?" Roxas was beating around the bush now and Demyx felt guilty. What was it that he was forgetting?

"Tomorrow is…um…Thursday, right?"

"The date, Dem!"

"I don't know the goddamn date today!" Demyx exclaimed, finally growing annoyed with their teasing.

"The date tomorrow is June 9th," Zexion offered. He, apparently, didn't know why the date was important either. As soon as Zexion said it, though, Demyx knew.

"Oh!" he exclaimed loudly. His eyes went wide as Axel started to laugh. "I can't believe I forgot! How pathetic."

"Care to share?" Zexion asked, looking just the slightest bit exasperated.

"Tomorrow's my nineteenth birthday!" Demyx exclaimed giddily. He loved his birthday. It was so exciting!

Zexion looked like he was about to say something when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" Zexion winced and held his phone away from his ear. Demyx could hear a tinny voice on the other end yelling.

"My mom," he said quietly and rolled his eyes before putting the phone back to his ear.

"Mom, I'm fine…I'm at a friend's house…I had my phone off. Yes. Yes. No…what? Don't listen to anything Riku says, he's an idiot. Yes…yes, I know. All right. Okay, mom, okay. I'll be there soon." He snapped his phone shut and rolled his eyes once more.

"I've got to get home," he said, standing and shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"Is something wrong?" Demyx asked.

Zexion shook his head. "My mom got worried when I didn't come home last night. Riku apparently told her that I'd decided to elope. No doubt punishment for stealing his car."

Demyx laughed.

"The worst part, though," Zexion sighed. "Is she was going to yell at me for not doing the dishes before I ran off to get married."

"Ah, yeah, your mom is a little weird, isn't she?" When Zexion shot him a dirty look Roxas added a bit sheepishly. "Larx always talked about her. Thought she was so cool, if not a bit weird."

Zexion shrugged and made his way toward the front door. Demyx shot a glare at Roxas, who looked a bit guilty, while Axel rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. The blonde followed his boyfriend, closing the door behind him.

"Zexion? Are you all right?" Demyx asked.

Zexion was silent for a long time. A car passed on the street, the driver hardly glancing at the two boys. A cat sat at the base of the tree, watching a caterpillar swing back and forth in the breeze on it's silk web.

"I don't really like your friends," Zexion finally said. Demyx had known that, but Zexion was nice enough to hang around them just to make him happy. Still, he wasn't really sure how he was supposed to respond to that.

"I…I won't just drop my friends, Zexy," he said quietly. Zexion nodded, still not facing him.

"I know that, Demyx. I'm not asking you to…"

"Do you me to hang out with you and your friends more often, then?" Demyx persisted. He wanted his lover to be happy.

Zexion finally turned to look at him, a sad smirk on his face. "My only friend is dead," he said solemnly.

Demyx felt his heart break a bit. "I'm your friend, Zexy," he said quietly. "I may be dying, but I'm not dead yet."

"That isn't what I meant," Zexion sighed.

"It's what you said," Demyx shrugged.

"I consider you more then a friend, Demyx."

Demyx smiled his brightest smile. "I know Zexy, but why can't we be both?"

"Axel."

Demyx let out an exasperated sigh, reaching out a hand to grab Zexion's shoulder. The shorter boy, however, took a step back, leaving Demyx's hand to hang in the air before it dropped back to his side.

"I don't understand why you dislike Axel so much! What's wrong with him?" Demyx demanded, no longer feeling very nice. Axel was, and always had been, his best friend, after all.

"You're always so focused on him! Your little pet names drive me crazy, and goddamn it, you two kiss as if it's nothing!" Zexion was yelling now. Demyx had never heard his voice hit such a high range.

"Because it is!" Demyx yelled back, his hot-headedness taking over. "Axel is my best friend. He always has been and he always will be! He's been there for everything that has ever happened to me! When I was coming to terms that I wasn't like the other boys, Axel was right there with me! When I was trying to get Larxene's attention, when my parents disowned me, when they died, when Lyric was born, when Larx died, Axel was always there! He's been my comfort and my rock through hard times! Maybe we had something in the past, but it isn't that way now! He's like my brother, for god's sake! Don't make me choose, Zexion. I'll choose him."

Zexion's eyes clouded with anger and narrowed into a glare.

"Fine," he spat. "Fine. Go back to Axel then. Here's another moment you can depend on him for. I don't even fucking care." Demyx could see a curtain pulled aside in the house next door, a brunette woman watching them in interest. Demyx fought the urge to glare and flip her off, choosing instead to chase after Zexion, who had already made his way across the yard and was sliding into the front seat of his car. Demyx grabbed the door before Zexion could slam it shut.

"Zexion, please don't do this," he said quietly. "Don't make me choose."

Zexion didn't look at him, but Demyx could still see that his face was cold and impassive.

"You already did, Demyx." He grabbed the handle and Demyx snatched his hand away before it slammed shut, watching Zexion run away from him for the second time in less the twenty-four hours.

--

A/N: Okay…how many of you hate me now? I seem to have turned Zexion into an emo little bitch, but I think he has good reason. Even though poor Demyx doesn't deserve to be so mistreated. Between the two of them, they win the world record for Emotional Baggage Holders. Reviews tickle me Elmo.


	15. Sickness and Secret Desires

A/N: To all of y'all in the states, Happy Independence Day! To those of you not in the states...happy normal day!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 15

The rain spattering on the road seemed incredibly fitting to the atmosphere as Demyx stood and stared down the road that Zexion had sped down nearly ten minutes before. The blonde was already soaked to the bone, but he didn't seem able to move from his place. The malice in Zexion's voice had cut so deep. Demyx didn't realize what a strong effect the boy had on him until that moment.

How could everything have gone so downhill so fast? They'd been happy not even an hour ago, teasing and touching and loving. Everything had been okay. Now he was standing numb in the rain and Zexion was gone, no doubt regretting all the time he'd wasted for the past two months.

Maybe his relationship with Zexion just wasn't meant to be. Maybe they were just too different. Their relationship had started with them screaming at each other, for god's sake! Relationships had never really been Demyx's strong point anyway. He'd had a whole of three in his life, all of which had turned out badly.

With Axel, it had been awkward. Of course, that wasn't enough to stop the raging teenage hormones, but when they had actually tried dating they found that it felt so strange. They hadn't been able to talk like they usually did, just because they were nervous and cautious. Maybe if they'd hooked up when they were older and more experienced with others, things might have gone differently, but the past was exactly that.

He'd loved Larxene, but the relationship hadn't exactly been simple, what with Larxene's pregnancy and then her death. That one had left him with a hefty amount of emotional baggage.

Then there was Zexion. Demyx had easily fallen in love with the quiet boy, and this fact was ripping a whole in him. He wasn't really sure why he had become attached so easily and quickly. Maybe it was because of his desperate desire for love or maybe it was because he was terrified of dying alone.

Demyx blinked and frowned, thinking over that last revelation. Was…that it? Was he so afraid that he'd die alone and be forgotten? Certainly, it was a terrifying thought. It wasn't as if he'd done anything note-worthy, but the thought of non-existence was terrifying. There were people out there, important people, whose names were down in history and would be as time continued on…but when Demyx died, who would remember him? Who would ache and suffer for him like he'd done for Larxene? No one would. Sure, Axel would be upset, but he had Roxas to help him get over it. Other then that, though, he really had no one else.

What would happen to Lyric? He'd already made his living will. It had been a rather short process, considering the only thing of any value he had was Lyric and he already knew who he was going to leave her in the custody of. He wasn't worried about that. He was worried about her future. How would she cope with growing up as an orphan? Would she wonder about her parents, the ones who died before she was even ten years old? Would she remember him, or would she not care? Would she grow up never bothering to think of them because they were long dead and no longer important to her life? He didn't want to think about that.

Some part of him wished he could just go back to two hours before and freeze time like that forever. It was a silly, juvenile wish, but he couldn't help but make it. Why did life have to be so hard? There were some who breezed through without a care in the world. Why couldn't Demyx have been born into that sort of lifestyle? Why was he doomed to lose out in everything he did? Why wasn't life just a little bit fairer?

Demyx was snapped from his thoughts by the sound of a horn blaring behind him. He jumped a mile and turned to see the car that had been directly behind him, the driver leaning against the horn to make a single long blaring noise. Demyx waved his hand in apology and got out of the middle of the road, walking slowly up the front walk and back into the house.

"Dem?" Axel came out of the kitchen, Roxas trailing behind him. Demyx was glad now that it had been raining. They couldn't tell if he'd been crying or not. "Don't worry about it. He's not worth your time."

Demyx shrugged. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"Are you going to be okay?" Roxas asked tentatively.

The blonde nodded. "I'll be fine. I'm tired, I think I'm gonna go back to bed."

He ignored Axel's attempts at comfort and entered his bedroom, collapsing on the mattress and staring pensively at the ceiling until he slipped into a mind-numbing slumber.

* * *

He woke up feeling indescribably nauseous. Hauling himself to his feet, he hardly had enough time to drag himself into the bathroom before he was throwing up anything and everything he'd eaten in the last two days.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Lyric's soft voice came from the doorway, but Demyx couldn't answer to reassure her. He couldn't remember ever feeling so awful before. He was sweating and extremely hot. His stomach ached and his head spun and he was sure his legs wouldn't support him if he cared to stand.

"Daddy?" Demyx merely retched again, one hand gripping the windowsill, the other the edge of the counter to keep himself from collapsing. The sound of Lyric's footsteps receded down the hallway, and a minute or so later, they came back, followed by heavier steps.

"Dem, are you all right? Wow, you look like shit."

Demyx managed to flip the redhead off while being sick. When Demyx finally ran out of things to throw up and settled on dry heaving, he realized Axel was talking to someone quietly on the phone.

"…throwing up everything…well, no, I don't really know why. I'm not the doctor, you are, dammit…Yeah, I can get him down there. I don't know if it's that severe…oh…oh, really? Wow…um…all right. We'll be there in a few minutes…All right. No, that isn't necessary. Okay, thank you." He hung up the phone.

"Dem, can you even move?" Demyx blinked, trying to figure out what the hell he'd said before the words arranged themselves slowly in his head.

"Yeah…yeah, I think so. Where're we going?"

"Hospital," Axel answered. "Your doctor doesn't think it's too much to worry about, but he wants to make sure."

Demyx let his head drop to his chest in a sort of half nod. His mind was working too slowly to really comprehend anything anyway. He pulled himself to his feet, blinking rapidly as his head spun and his vision blacked out. He grabbed the counter and leaned over it, trying not to pass out. He hated being unconscious. A pair of arms grabbed him and suddenly he was lifted off his feet and cradled against Axel's chest.

He was too impressed by Axel's strength to protest about being carried. He merely leaned his face into his best friend's chest and let his eyes slip closed.

"Don't throw up on me," Axel teased. "I'll drop you right here."

Demyx mumbled something unintelligible before letting himself sleep again.

* * *

Axel sighed and set Demyx in the back seat, allowing the blonde to stretch out and slip further into his comatose state. Demyx was always pretty cheerful, so Axel had never really noticed how sick he was. Now that he wasn't smiling or talking, just lying there, Axel could see it. His skin was pale, his frame looking skinnier and his eyes seemed sunken in. He looked so tired. How could Axel not have noticed this? He stroked his friend's sheared hair, which was mostly gone now due to the radiation, and forced back a dry sob. It was his turn to be strong for Demyx, rather then the other way around. He now realized that was what it had been. Demyx had been protecting them from seeing just how bad it really was.

"Blondie, come here!" he called. Lyric dutifully approached him, her eyebrows perking up in curiosity.

"What's wrong with Daddy?" she asked in that sweet little voice of hers.

"He's not feeling very well," Axel answered truthfully. "We're taking him to the doctor so he'll feel better. I need you to get in the car and put on your seatbelt. I've got to talk to Roxas and then we'll be right here, okay?"

Lyric nodded to show she understood. Axel ruffled her hair and started back toward the house, where Roxas made his appearance on the porch.

"What's going on?" the blonde asked, panicked. "Is something seriously wrong with Demyx?"

"No, calm down. He's a bit sick, that's all. His doctor thinks he might've caught some sort of bug, but he wants us to bring Demyx there just in case."

"If he's just a little bit sick, then why…?" Roxas asked. Axel sighed and threw his arm around his boyfriend's shoulder, hugging him close and kissing the top of his head.

"Dem is really sick compared to a little bug, Rox. The doctor said his immune system is a lot weaker then a healthy person's would be. This bug could be little and nothing to worry about, which is most likely the case. On the other hand…well, it could kill him, too. The doctor wants him in a controlled environment, just in case."

Roxas clutched his shirt and nodded into his chest.

"All right. We better get going then, I guess." Axel nodded and smiled reassuringly down at his boyfriend before kissing him quickly.

"He'll be fine, Roxy."

Roxas nodded, his blue eyes looking determinedly optimistic. "Yeah…yeah, he'll be fine."

When they got in the car, Lyric was waiting patiently, buckled in with Demyx's head in her lap. She was petting his hair softly and staring out the window, as if she truly understood the severity of the situation. Axel doubted that she ever really would, but marveled at her ability to realize that something wasn't right. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway, setting off toward the hospital. Roxas took his hand and smiled weakly at him in the awkward silence. Axel was a bit uncomfortable with it, so he struck up conversation with Lyric. The four-year-old could chatter endlessly and would, if someone would let her. Just like Demyx had been back when they were kids.

"How did you like your time with Kairi yesterday?" Axel asked her.

"Oh! We had so much fun! She took me to see Pretty Ponies at the movies and we had pizza! She let me stay up all the way to eight o' clock, too! She would have let me stay up later, except I was tired and wanted to sleep. She bought me ice cream, too and this morning she made waffles! I like Kairi, she's pretty and nice. It was fun to hang out with a girl."

Axel couldn't help but grin as the girl took in a long gasp for breath.

"What, you don't like hanging out with me because I'm a boy?" Axel asked, pretending to be offended. Lyric's eyes widened and she shook her head quickly.

"I didn't mean that, Uncle Axel! I just like playing with a girl because I'm always playing with boys. Kairi is kinda like a mommy…except she said I couldn't call her that because she thought it would hurt my real mommy's feelings. I told her that I didn't think my mommy would mind because I'd always know she was my real mommy and that I'd always love her anyway. Still, she said that I couldn't, but she'd like to be my friend if that was okay. I said it was because I like having friends. So now I have a lot of friends. I have you and Uncle Roxas and daddy and Kairi and Daddy Zexion. That's like a million friends!"

Throughout the entire mommy section of the conversation Axel had to fight to keep his eyes on the road, though he was sure his eyebrows had risen so high they were hidden in his hair. Lyric, just as he had suspected, chattered all the way to the hospital.

--

A/N: I've got two things to say.

1. Picture Larxene in your head…and then slap the label 'mommy' across her chest. Proceed to laugh yourself to death.

2. Reviews are super-wonderful and they act as healing remedies for our poor sick Demyx. The more reviews I receive, the better Demyx will feel. Do your thang, people.


	16. Axel: Talking to Zexion

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 16

"Got any threes?" Roxas sighed.

"Go fish. Got any queens?"

"Go fish! Got any fives?" Lyric chirped brightly.

Roxas groaned, rolled his eyes, and handed the girl his five. Lyric giggled and lined up the pair on the table in front of her, along with all her other pairs. Axel grinned at his boyfriend, who had only two matches in front of him.

"It's a good thing we aren't betting, Roxy, or Blondie here would be cleaning you out. We'll have to teach her poker when she's old enough to figure it out."

Roxas rolled his eyes and handed over another card at Lyric's request.

"No way. I will never bet anything with this girl. She's a card mastermind. The poor world would never have a chance."

They were sitting in Demyx's room, trying to keep Lyric entertained while Demyx slept away. He hadn't moved an inch since Axel had put him in the car nearly five hours before. He'd had to carry the blonde into the emergency room.

It had probably looked quite dramatic. Roxas had been holding Lyric's hand and she had been walking really slowly, so Axel had reached the doors first. He'd had to push them open with his back, then he'd turned quickly, and alas, he was holding a limp body in his arms! Yeah, definitely dramatic.

Demyx's doctor, Vexen, had led them to a room already set up and hooked Demyx to an IV and started poking and prodding, running tests, and basically ignoring them as they worried over their friend. He still hadn't come back, though several nurses had been in and out to check on things all day. Some time ago, Axel's mom had shown up and he hadn't seen her in a while either, so maybe she was with Vexen. At least someone was getting some information.

Roxas let out a groan and knocked his head lightly against the table as Lyric once again kicked his ass at Go Fish. Lyric flashed a brilliant smile and giggled, before she frowned and rested a hand on her stomach. Axel knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"I'm hungry," she declared. He sighed and nodded.

"All right. How about we go get something to eat then?" He looked apprehensively at Demyx. He really didn't want to leave, just in case the blonde woke up while they were gone, but he had a hungry kid on his hands. Roxas caught his eye and stared at him for a long moment before holding out a hand.

"What?" Axel asked, confused.

"Give me your keys. I'll take Lyric to get something to eat."

"You can't go down to the cafeteria?" Axel grumbled, but obediently handed over his car keys.

"Please, you know how gross hospital food is. She's a growing girl, she needs proper sustenance," Roxas insisted.

After knowing his boyfriend for many years, Axel could almost read his thoughts reflected in those big blue eyes.

He wanted to get Lyric out of the depressing atmosphere and keep her happy. That sounded reasonable enough and Axel was a bit dismayed he hadn't thought of it himself

"Yeah, all right. Bring me back something, will you?" Roxas nodded and offered his lips up for a kiss, which Axel took, and then led Lyric out of the room.

The redhead sighed, flopping back into his chair and leaning his head back against the wall. He'd never quite realized how slowly time seemed to pass when you were desperately worried about someone. If Demyx only had a bug, why hadn't he woken up yet? Was it the rain that had made him so sick? Axel had known he was still out there standing in the rain. Was this all his fault for not making the distressed blonde come inside so he wouldn't get catch something? He should have known that Demyx could die if he got sick. It was common sense. He'd been careless with his best friend's life. He felt like shit.

The door opened and his mother's head poked around the corner.

"How's he doing?" she asked with a small smile. Axel sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. He hasn't woken up yet, so not too good, I guess."

She nodded and pulled up a chair next to him, taking his hand, just as an excuse for human contact. His mother liked to be touching someone at all times. It was her personal opinion that everyone just needed to be touched. Axel was sure that's why she always paid such special attention to Demyx.

Demyx's birth had been a fluke. His parents hadn't ever planned on having children. When his mother accidentally got pregnant, though, she decided to raise her child herself. They had never exactly neglected Demyx…they just hadn't been very parent-like towards him. They fed him, clothed him, and made sure that he did okay in school, but that was it. They never praised him for anything or did something just for him. Ever since Axel had first met Demyx, the blonde had always loved to be hugged, cuddled with, or even just a stroke of the hand every once in a while. Ariel had diagnosed him 'starved for affection', a title which, in all honesty, was probably true.

Axel could remember that first night when they had announced their sexuality. Ariel had accepted it easily, claiming she'd known long before he did that he was gay. Demyx's parents, on the other hand, had been disgusted by the thought. The blonde and his parents had argued for hours on end, screaming until they were all hoarse. It had been past three in the morning when Demyx had snuck through Axel's window crying. The strange thing, though, was that he was crying because he was happy, not because he was sad. Demyx had said it was because, for the first time, his parents had felt some sort of emotion toward him. Even if it was anger or disgust, it was something, and that showed that they really cared in some way. Axel hadn't really understood at the time, but now looking back, he realized that Demyx, at such a young age, was so much smarter in the ways of the world then Axel would ever be.

"What are you thinking about?" Ariel questioned. Her gentle voice pulled him back from his thoughts. He looked at her and flashed a grin, not even half it's usual strength.

"Demyx's parents," Axel sighed, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. It was peculiar, though a style one could find in any hospital. He'd always wondered why people used pieces of plaster that looked like they had been thoroughly poked with a thumbtack.

"I've been thinking about them a lot lately too. I've wondered how they would have reacted to this, were they still alive. Would they have continued on treating him the same as they always had, or would they have finally showed him the affection he'd always secretly desired? I did as much as I could for Demyx, but no one can replace the love of a mother in a child's heart."

They were quiet then for a long time. Axel kept comparing his own mother to Demyx's mother, and he just couldn't imagine growing up the way his friend had.

"Hey mom?" He spoke up after a good twenty minutes.

"Hm?"

"I'm…I'm glad. That you're my mom, I mean." As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. It sounded so cheesy out loud, he just wanted to groan and beat his head against the nearest hard surface. She, however, just smiled and squeezed his hand.

"I'm glad you're my son, Ax. Life would be boring with out you, that's a fact."

He smirked and looked away, but he knew she was pleased by his confession. Everyone just needed to be touched. Anyone who really knew Demyx knew that he, more then anyone, needed the comforting contact of those around him. Everyone except Zexion. He didn't understand, not really. Then again, how could he? He'd never seen Demyx with his parents and no one had ever told him, so how could he be expected to understand? He was jealous over their casual touches and Axel could understand that. He would probably hate it if Roxas was like that with anyone else, but he would understand, just as Roxas did for him. Axel didn't especially like Zexion, but Demyx did. Demyx did a lot. He'd do anything for Demyx.

Mind made up, the redhead stood and reached for his keys, before remembering that he'd lent his car to Roxas.

"Mom, let me borrow your keys," he said quietly. She glanced at him in surprise, but began digging in her purse for her keys nonetheless.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I…have to go talk to someone before Demyx wakes up. It's pretty important."

She handed over her keys but looked at him sternly. "Are you going to make a house call at nine o' clock at night?" she demanded.

Axel merely nodded before making his way out the door, ignoring her call that she had raised him with better manners then that.

It took him a few minutes to find her car in the parking garage, an effort that had eventually led him to pressing the panic button and following the sounds of the obnoxious car alarm to his destination. Starting up the car and sliding easily out, he was pleased that he still remembered where Zexion lived. It took less then twenty minutes to reach the right street, nearly five to find the right house number. He finally came to a stop outside a white house with cheerful red shutters and matching front door, a pot of red flowers to the right of the porch making everything match so well. It was a little weird.

He made his way up to the porch, leaning against the doorbell until the door opened to reveal a very pissed off Zexion.

"Stop pushing the god damn bell!" he hissed, shoving Axel a few steps back. Axel narrowed his eyes down at the boy, feeling rage as he remembered the way he'd screamed at Demyx earlier that morning.

"If you came here to glare at me, I'm closing the door," Zexion growled, his hand coming to rest on the edge of said door.

"Don't. I came because I want to explain a few things to you that you really don't understand."

Zexion opened his mouth to argue, but Axel cut him off.

"No, just listen to me for a minute. I don't like you, not at all, but Demyx really does. I'm here for him."

"Why couldn't he come then?" Zexion sneered.

"He's a little tied up at the moment!" Axel yelled. "Demyx's home life wasn't exactly the most nurturing. He likes to be touched because he never got that from his parents as a kid. When I kiss Demyx on the cheek or hold his hand or call him 'babe' its not anything other then simple human contact for him. He never got it as a kid so I try to give it to him now."

"I don't like it," Zexion said stubbornly.

Axel gripped his hair in one hand trying to keep his temper under control. "I know that you don't like it," he finally said as calmly as he could. "Hell, I wouldn't like it either, if I were you. But I'm not going to stop. If I did, Demyx would think I was mad at him for something. We've been best friends nearly our whole lives. We don't touch just for the sake of touching. We do it because it shows us, him especially, that we'll always be there for each other."

Zexion was quiet for a long time, eyes blank and staring as if he were thinking. Finally, he looked up at met Axel's eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?" he said finally.

"Because you didn't understand. You didn't know the reason for Dem's neediness and it's a big part of who he is. Demyx is in love with you and he's dying. Right now, he's in the hospital because he has the flu. The flu, for god's sake! For some crazy reason he loves you and you make him indescribably happy. I want him to be happy, for how much time he has left. He's at St. Joseph's hospital, room 96. Do what you want with that information."

With this as a parting statement, he turned on his heel and made his way back to the car, pulling away before Zexion could say another word.

--

A/N: Yup…so I thought that might give a little insight as to who Demyx is through the eyes of another. Who better to do that with then his best friend? I hope you like it, drop me a line and review, if you please.


	17. Happy Nineteenth

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 17

The obnoxious white walls were the first thing he saw when he woke up. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was in a hospital…again. He wished they would paint those damn walls some other color so he wouldn't have to be blinded half to hell every time he woke up in the hospital, which seemed to be happening more and more often as of late. He glanced at the clock, seeing that it read three-oh-five. Whether that was am or pm he couldn't tell, due to the fact that the curtains were drawn shut over the windows. He felt much better then he had the last time he could remember, but he wasn't sure how long that would last if he decided to strain himself. He was fairly positive he only felt okay because he was drugged up and lying down.

"Hey, are you awake?" He glanced over to see Axel sitting in a chair. His arms were crossed over his chest, his head leaning back against the wall, and his legs stretched out in front of him. Judging by the slightly mussed look of his hair and the way he blinked, he'd been sleeping too.

"Yeah, I'm awake. How long have I been out for?" Demyx asked.

"From about…three o' clock yesterday to now. That's about twenty-four hours, give or take. Happy Birthday, by the way."

Demyx let out a loud groan. "Aw, damn, I can't believe I'm about to spend my birthday in the hospital," he sighed. "Worst year ever."

Axel laughed and dragged his chair over to Demyx's bedside.

"Ah, well, you get to spend the whole day with me. It can't be that bad," he grinned.

"Yes, well, I suppose there's that. Of course, I could be spending my nineteenth birthday doing something enjoyable rather then strapped to a bag of water with a needle in my arm and trapped in a bed."

"You just have to be pessimistic, don't you?"

"Axel, I'm nineteen years old and dying. I think I have a bit of a reason to be pessimistic."

The redhead shrugged. "I see your point. Still, no reason you can't enjoy being a year older."

Demyx grimaced and shrugged. "Are you the only one here?"

Axel nodded.

"Yeah. Roxas had to get home and mom had to go to work. She brought Lyric with her and I decided to stay her until you woke up. It's not like I had anything better to do.

"If you had had something better to do, would you have stayed?" he teased.

"Probably, though I can't really guarantee."

Demyx very maturely stuck his tongue out at the redhead. Axel grinned and shook his head. "No, Roxy might get jealous."

"Perv," Demyx grumbled but kept smiling. "What do they have me drugged up on that makes me feel so happy? God knows, I have plenty of things to be pissed and sad about right now."

"I have no idea, my friend. All I know is that every few hours or so a different nurse comes in and inject something into your IV, so whatever you're on, they're keeping you on it."

"You didn't have to stay, you know." Axel blinked at the random change in conversation.

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't have to stay with me. You could have gone out and spent time with Roxas," Demyx clarified.

"I didn't mind…where's this coming from anyway?"

"Well…I've been thinking. You and Roxas have been spending most of your time around me. Don't get me wrong; I appreciate it, but I kind of feel like I'm not being fair to you guys. You deserve some alone time and you don't really get that now that you're always with me…"

"Wow, Dem, you're stupid," Axel grinned. "We're not spending time with you out of obligation, we're spending time with you because we love you and we want to. We don't mind not being alone together all time. We're always together and we want to be here for you when you need us. Simple as that." Demyx looked suspiciously at his friend before shrugging.

"Hey, it's your free time, I guess," he conceded.

"Damn straight!"

A knock came on the door and a blonde woman poked her head into the room a moment later.

"Oh! Nice to see that you're awake, Mr. Capulet," she said cheerfully as she switched his nearly empty IV bag for another one. "Your friend was up half the night pacing the room."

"Oh, no, nurse!" Axel exclaimed. "Why did you have to tell him that? There goes my dignity right out the door!"

"I thought it was sweet," she smiled, picking up a clipboard that had been attached to the end of his bed. She flipped it open and frowned just the slightest before her bright smile slipped back into place.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Capulet?"

"Um…just call me Demyx. I feel okay, I guess. Pretty relaxed and not sick or anything."

She nodded and jotted a few things down. "That's good. Do you have a headache or anything of the sort?"

"Nope." Okay, so he did feel just a tiny bit of pressure a bit above his right ear, but it didn't hurt, so it didn't really count. She smiled and flipped his chart closed.

"All right, then. It seems everything is in order here. I'll let your doctor know that you're awake and send up some food from the cafeteria for you. You must be hungry."

Demyx nodded and managed to thank her before she closed the door behind her.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get something to drink, okay?" Axel said, standing and making his way over to the door.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be right here," Demyx said. Axel laughed and then made his own quick disappearance. The poor guy was probably going crazy from being trapped in the same place for more then a few hours. He was probably about to go run a lap around the hospital. Demyx located the TV remote, conveniently placed just out of his reach on the bedside table. He glared at it as if it had offended him and strained to reach it. It was a good five minutes before he finally end up pulling the entire table an inch toward him and then grabbing the remote. He flipped on the TV, looking for anything that might keep him entertained. Finally, he stopped on a rerun of Scrubs. It didn't really matter that it was a rerun, considering Demyx hadn't really watched TV in years and he hadn't seen the episode anyway. He wasn't sure what possessed him to watch a show about hospitals while in the hospital, except for imaging the faces of people he'd seen during his weeks of visiting the hospital over the people in the show. It was enough to have him in hysterics by the time Axel returned, a bottle of Pepsi in one hand and a bag of Fritos in the other.

"Oh, I love this show. Mostly because it annoys the hell out of Roxas, but still, it grows on you after a while. Scoot over." Demyx scooted to one side of the bed and Axel sat next to him, stretching his legs out in front of him and training his eyes on the television. They watched a three hour marathon, in which time a nurse came with food for Demyx and warned Axel not to let Demyx have any of his Pepsi. Of course, as soon as the nurse left, Demyx took a long drink just to spite her for treating him like a kid, even though he was much more a Coke person anyway. They were halfway through their seventh episode when there came a knock on the door, sounding suspiciously like 'shave and a haircut'. Axel and Demyx shouted, "Two bits!" in unison and the door opened, revealing Roxas and a large box in the doorway.

"Hey, Roxas. You've missed out on a pretty riveting day!" Axel grinned, nodding toward the television. Roxas shivered in mock horror.

"You're watching Scrubs?"

"Yup. This is the seventh episode today!" Demyx called cheerfully.

"You people are crazy," Roxas groaned. Axel cleared the lunch tray off the little table that swung out over Demyx's bed and Roxas placed the box on it.

"What is this?" Demyx asked as Roxas whipped the top off and Axel pushed it in front of him. He grinned when he saw the cake with 'Happy Nineteenth!" written in blue icing on the top.

"Wow! Thanks guys! This is…a lot of cake."  
They laughed and Axel shook his head. "Yes, well, there are a lot of mouths to feed."

"What did you guys do?" Demyx demanded and suddenly his small room was filled with people. Ariel, Kairi and Naminé, who turned out to be her younger sister, and Sora, but best of all, was that Roxas' parents were there too. Demyx hadn't spoken to them since Larxene died, even thought they had never been exactly rude to him, he hadn't felt right about it. Lyric was riding on her grandfather's shoulders, looking delighted about the sheer amount of people crammed into the room.

Demyx blinked a few times, trying to keep from crying as he looked at all the people and then his best friend.

"How did you manage this one?" he asked.

Axel grinned. "A few phone calls and a mix of bribing and flirting with the head nurse. She's a very touchy feely woman. Took me forever to get away, and then I had to find a vending machine so my 'buying a drink' excuse would go through."

"You guys are so great," was all he could say. These people were like a family to him and Lyric and he had to fight to keep from crying again to realize that they all cared enough to spend their day at a hospital with him.

"Hey, don't get all mushy on us," Roxas grinned. "I, for one, expect the very same treatment if I'm ever in the hospital on my birthday."

"Of course," Demyx agreed with a smile. "The only thing I'm wondering about…how did you manage to get Axel to keep his mouth shut?"

"That was my own willpower!" Axel exclaimed proudly. "I kept my mouth shut all by myself and I think I should get a reward for it, too!" He nudged Roxas in the side and wiggled his eyebrows. Roxas laughed and pushed him away.

"Save it for when our parents aren't in the room, why don't you?"

Axel's eyes went wide and he turned on his heel to look at Roxas' parents. His dad looked slightly amused and his mother merely looked like she had no idea what to say.

"Ah, right, Mommy and Daddy Roxas…I forgot about you two momentarily…"

They were all silent for a second before Lyric said loudly, "Daddy, I want cake!"

With a ripple of laughter, the awkwardness was broken and Roxas started serving up cake onto paper plates that seemed to have been pulled from nowhere. As far as birthdays went, it was one of Demyx's best.

--

A/N: Yup…so, filler, but I thought it was fun. Poor Demyx needs some good in his life for once. Haha…Dem's birthday is June 9th. Hehe…6/9, get it? (That was also the date I posted this fic. Completely intentional, I assure you.) Review if you want a piece of Demyx's birthday cake!


	18. Seizure

A/N: Wow, I am so sorry it took me so long to update. I was at Bible camp (a.k.a Pathfinder Lodge) all week and we weren't allowed to have internet or anything battery operated (unless it was a flashlight) so...yeah. Something about bringing us closer to God without being distracted by the outside world. Again, I'm very sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 18

His friends had been allowed to stay a few hours past visiting hours, but eventually they had all left. It had taken nearly another hour to convince Axel to go home and get some substantial rest and by the time he was alone and could sleep, it was nearly midnight. He'd slipped away easily, but was woken up very early in the morning by a nurse and then unable to fall back asleep when Axel showed up with Lyric.

Needless to say, he was helplessly tired. The pressure in his head had gotten worse since the day before, but he figured it was only because of his lack of sleep.

"Hey Daddy, why are you sick?" Lyric asked, tearing her eyes away from the cartoons on the TV. Demyx blinked, glanced at Axel and then at his daughter, and then back to Axel. The redhead, in a fit of helpfulness, merely shrugged. Demyx sighed and told the truth.

"I don't know why I'm sick, hun. I guess that's just the way things are supposed to be."

Lyric seemed to accept this answer.

"How much longer will you be sick for?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'm here so the doctors can make me better, though." She smiled.

"That's good. I miss you."

He smiled, feeling his heart break just a bit. "I miss you, too." She crawled from the end of the bed and leaned her head against him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her as she turned her attention back to the TV. There was a flash from the corner, which turned out to be Roxas with a camera.

"It was cute," he said with a shrug, tucking his camera into his pocket. "How are you feeling, Demyx?"

"Extremely tired," Demyx admitted, unable to hold back a yawn.

"Yeah…um…that's kinda my fault. I just wanted to make sure he was okay!" Axel admitted under Roxas' glare.

"Let the poor guy sleep. If there is one bright side to being in the hospital, its getting to sleep for hours on end." Demyx laughed and nodded his head in agreement. His bed at home didn't have the ability to bend at any angle he wished, nor did it have a TV placed so very conveniently in front of it.

"Hey Axel?" Demyx said quietly.

"What's up Dem?"

"You can only visit me once." Demyx could see that Axel was confused by these words. "You've spent all your time with me here…I don't want you doing the same thing after I die." He froze for a moment, glancing at Lyric, but she didn't seem to be paying attention. He'd been so careful not to mention his impending death in front of her in the past. It was merely good luck that that she hadn't been listening when he'd slipped up.

"Demyx, don't talk like that." Axel shook his head looking sad.

"It's true, Ax. It'll happen sooner or later and when it does, you can only visit me once. I won't get lonely, I promise. Same goes for you, Roxas. Promise me."

Roxas nodded. "I promise."

Axel shook his head stubbornly. "I can't…"

"It's my last wish, Axel. Grant me that, at least." Axel let out a sad sigh before petulantly crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine. I promise."

A knock sounded at the door, but this time, a nurse didn't poke her head around the corner and throw him a falsely cheerful smile like usual.

"Come in!" Demyx called curiously. The door opened. He felt his heart drop to his feet when Zexion entered the room, his eyes downcast.

"I'm hungry," Axel suddenly declared loudly. "Lyric, lets go get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry," Lyric frowned. Axel sighed and stood, scooping Lyric off the bed and throwing her over one shoulder.

"Come on Blondie. I'll get you some ice cream." She instantly stopped kicking and let Axel carry her out of the room, Roxas following closely and shutting the door firmly behind him.

Demyx stared at Zexion, who refused to look at him. After a few minutes of silence, Demyx grew impatient.

"Did you come here to stare at the floor or did you come here to say something to me?" he snapped. Zexion's head snapped up and his eyes met Demyx's. He flinched a little at the anger he saw there.

"I'm sorry. I suppose I shouldn't have come…"

"Say what you were going to say!" Demyx snapped. Again, Zexion looked taken aback.

"Axel came to my house the other night," he started slowly. Demyx was shocked to hear this. He hadn't known that. "He…explained to me about your relationship. I still don't like it…but I suppose that I can understand it."

Demyx didn't feel any better. Zexion had hurt him, dammit. He was angry!

"And that's it? My best friend shows up and talks to you for five minutes, but something I've been telling you for months doesn't get through?" he demanded.

Zexion's eyes flashed. "He explained it differently!" he defended. "Dem, I'm sorry, all right? I was wrong, you were right. I got angry and I said stupid things…"

"Is this how it's always going to be, Zexion?" Demyx demanded.

"What…"

Demyx sighed, massaging the sore spot on his head.

"Are you going to find a way to get mad at me over everything and then just storm off and leave me with my pain? Because I can't really say I understand you. You're the one who pursued this relationship. You're also the one that keeps pushing me away and then later you decide that you want to be with me again. Your signals are mixed, Zexion, and I'm confused."

Zexion's eyes fell shut and he took a few deep breaths before speaking again.

"I haven't really been fair to you, Demyx. I get that. I suppose I'm just confused myself." He took a few steps back and sank into Axel's abandoned chair, holding his head in his hands, the silver tresses of his hair threaded through his fingers.

"I…I've been in love with you for years. Since Larx first introduced me to you. It was awful, knowing that I couldn't do anything about it. I'd accepted that I couldn't have you…and then Larx died. I didn't want to make any sort of move, though, because you were in mourning…but after so many years I couldn't take seeing it anymore. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted to make you happy. So I took a chance. Admittedly, an argument probably was not the best way to do it, but in the end it worked and I was satisfied." He still didn't look up and Demyx just continued to watch him as he spoke, hands gripping and loosening on his hair.

"I suppose that I became insecure the more time I spent around you. You made me feel wonderful, Dem, but I also began to feel so unworthy of you. I was scared that I would get hurt, so maybe I started getting more distant. I started to nag you about graduating and skipping school and all the time…you were _dying_. I felt like such an ass…it seemed like the perfect time to leave before you could leave me…so I tried. But the thought of it just drove me so crazy, just a few hours later I showed up on your doorstep. I admitted I loved you and we had sex and everything was good while we were alone. And then Axel was there and I remembered how easily he could replace me…"

Demyx let out a frustrated groan, trying to ignore the pain in his head that was increasingly getting worse. "Zexion, it's not like that with me and Axel…"

"I know that now," Zexion interrupted. "Really I do, but at the time my insecurities were taking over and I was looking for a reason, any reason, to push away again. I don't know why I do it, not really. I suppose it's a defense mechanism. If I never get too close to someone, I can't get hurt…"

Demyx reached out and caught one of Zexion's hands, slowly pulling it out of his hair. He squeezed it lightly, suddenly feeling a deep connection with the boy.

"I completely understand, Zexion. Everyone I have ever loved has died on me or left me in someway. I'd completely given up on it all and then you kissed me in the library and somehow, you became my hope. But you're tearing me apart. I can't take this, not if you're going to keep pushing me away. I need to know, Zexy. Are you in, or out?"

Zexion finally looked up, his eyes widening. He looked as if someone had just told him the laws of physics didn't actually exist.

"You'd still have me?" he asked, aghast.

"Yes, I'll still have you. But…you have to promise me you're not going to push me away. You'll talk to me and let me know what you're thinking instead of taking matters into your own hands, right?"

Zexion nodded quickly, his hand tightening around Demyx's.

"Yes. Yes, of course. I'm sorry for hurting you like I have. It won't happen again." Demyx smiled tenderly at his (once again) boyfriend.

"Good. I don't think my heart could take it. I love you, Zexy."

Zexion smiled, a true, brilliant smile, before leaning forward and catching his lips in a tender kiss, a hand coming to rest on his face in a caressing manner.

"I love you too." Zexion leaned back and looked away for a moment. When he looked back, Demyx smiled and patted the bed next to him, an inviting gesture. Zexion smiled and rolled his eyes playfully, but still climbed up next to him, lacing his finger's through the blonde's. Demyx inched them down until they were lying face to face in hopes it might make his headache recede. They stayed silent like this, enjoying each other's company with soft touches and kisses until Axel, Roxas, and Lyric returned. Roxas smiled at them, while Axel only sent a nod of acknowledgement. It clearly said that he wasn't exactly thrilled, but he was willing to put up with it. That was all Demyx really needed. Of course, even if Axel didn't give his blessing, it wasn't his business anyway. There was another knock and the door came bursting open, followed by the Pepsi nurse from the day before.

"Wow, you boys sure aren't shy about sharing a bed, are you? It was the redheaded one yesterday…"

Demyx glanced at Zexion, resisting the temptation to assault the nurse. Zexion's face didn't change a bit, but when he pressed a kiss on the Demyx's hand, still clenched in his own, the blonde knew everything was okay.

When he awoke, the hospital was extremely quiet. Axel was asleep in the chair with Roxas in his lap and Demyx was trapped between Zexion and Lyric. It took him a long moment to realize the dull pain in his head had woken him up and then his arm twitched in the strangest way. He looked at it curiously and then a pain in his head erupted. He gasped, moving to touch the source of the pain, before realizing he couldn't control his arms, which were twitching and convulsing like mad. He couldn't control any bit of his body, it all seemed to be moving and twitching painfully by itself.

"Demyx?" Zexion asked drowsily, waking from his slumber. "Demyx, are you all right?"

He could only answer with a tortured moan. Zexion, looking panicked, pressed the nurse call button on the wall. Suddenly, Demyx couldn't seem to hear anything. He could only watch Zexion as he spoke urgently to the person on the other end. It was moments after the door burst open and several nurses came in to restrain him that he lost consciousness.

"He's having a seizure!"

"Someone get Dr. Vexen!"

"You have to get out of here!" A nurse snapped. They were all but pushed from the room, the door snapping shut behind them. Zexion blinked several times, backing away from the door until he walked right into the wall behind him. He sunk to the floor, still staring at the door in shock. What…had just happened? Everything had been fine. They'd made up…everything was going to be okay…and he'd just started…convulsing and twitching. He found that he couldn't move, couldn't speak for the longest time. A blonde man rushed into the room at one point and they continued in their silence until Lyric woke up, having slept through the entire ordeal so far.

"Where's Daddy?" she questioned with a yawn.

"Dammit!" Axel finally snapped, slamming his fist into the wall. Roxas just stared at the wall as if it had grown a head. Lyric looked confused, but stayed quiet, possibly scared because Axel was so angry. It seemed like they waited forever outside that door. People passing in the hallway sent them sympathetic looks. They were driving Zexion crazy. He just wanted to hit them all. They didn't need sympathy! Demyx was going to be fine, dammit! He was going to be just fine. They were in a hospital, for chrissakes! These people were trained to deal with shit like this.

The door opened and the blonde doctor came out. He looked at them for a long time in silence.

"What happened?" Axel demanded. "How's Demyx?"

"I'm not really supposed to tell because you aren't family…"

"We're the only family he has!" Axel growled angrily, taking a menacing step toward the doctor, who didn't look fazed at all.

"…But I understand the situation and am going to tell you anyway," he finished. Axel deflated a bit and took a step back. "Oh," he said.

He looked exhausted and colorless. Sad.

"The radiation reacted badly and started destroying Demyx's healthy brain cells. This caused radiation necrosis, which led to the seizure…"

Zexion didn't care about these little details. He wanted to know the important part.

"Is Demyx okay?" he snapped.

The doctor shook his head sadly. "He must have felt the pain and not told us. If he'd have told us sooner, we might have been able to do something. By the time the seizure hit it was too late. We did all we could…but he's gone."

And the world ceased to exist.

--

A/N: Go ahead and say it. I am a horrible person. But you know, what? I'm okay with that. I like sad endings a lot, because they seem a lot more realistic then when everything just turns out hunky-dory. That isn't life, y'all. It's not at all. Cancer is a terrible disease and its claimed the lives of many. My mom was lucky, damn lucky. I realized that tonight as I stood in the middle of a Relay For Life. People were lighting candles inside paper bags with people's names written on them and my friend Whitney was crying because she had to light three separate candles for three people very important to her, all of whom are dead. I realized that things don't just work out the way you might want them to, and sometimes, a story has to have that element of realism. I hope you guys don't hate me too much.


	19. Say Goodbye

A/N: Yeah, so weird stuff. Remember Whitney from my last author's note? Yeah, well she just magically appeared behind me and poked me the back as I was reading your reviews (many of them will well wishes for her) so I'm gonna go pass on your messages in a minute.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 19

"Now presenting, the Valedictorian of the class of 2008, Zexion Montague!" Zexion took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform, feeling just the slightest bit ridiculous in his graduation robe. It all seemed so silly now.

"Good morning," he said into the microphone. He glanced over and could see Roxas and Axel in seated amongst the rest of the graduates. These were people that he never would have befriended on his own, people that he wouldn't even like under different circumstances. Still, over the last two weeks, he had depended on them to pull him through his depression, and they had. Suddenly, they were all inseparable, brought together through their misery.

"I can imagine you are expecting to listen to me make a speech, pick up your diplomas, and head back to your own house for a party of some sort. You're expecting me to talk about our times in high school and tell you that our lives are just now beginning.

"I can't really say about the first part, but the second part is definitely false. Because the fact of the matter is this. Life has already started. The things you do now, the things you've done in the past, they all count as to the person you are today and the person you will be tomorrow. I'm afraid that I don't quite understand how people don't think life can start until college. I have a story to tell about someone whose life began and ended before he ever graduated. This person, had he been dealt different cards, might have been standing here today giving a speech instead of me."

The crowd was completely and totally silent, hanging on his every word.

"The person I'm talking about is Demyx Capulet. Demyx's life truly started at the age of fourteen, when his daughter was born and his girlfriend died. He became an adult when he decided that he was going to take care of his child, no matter what the cost to himself. He was smart, Demyx. Really smart. He could have made it to Valedictorian, he really could have. But life dealt him the wrong cards. Still he managed to stay in school, work, and take care of his daughter, all while keeping his friends. If that isn't life, I don't understand what is. You might have noticed I used the past tense. That is because in early April, Demyx was diagnosed with two brain tumors."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd. Not many even knew about Demyx's death yet, let alone the fact that he'd had cancer.

"Two weeks ago today, Demyx died in the hospital." There was another gasp and voices began to murmur throughout the stadium.

"Sitting in the audience today, is his daughter, Lyric. She's four years old and doesn't truly understand what has happened to her father. If that isn't life, I don't know what is. I guess all I'm saying is don't fool yourselves. Your lives have already started. Don't waste any more time. Live it up. Thank you."

There was a polite applause mixed amongst the murmurs of the crowd as Zexion returned to his seat between the class president and the salutatorian.

"That was, erm, quite the speech, Zexion, thank you," the principal said into the microphone.

"Now, to hand out the diplomas. First, to our Valedictorian, Zexion Montague!" There was a smattering of applause as he walked up, shook the principal's hand, took his diploma, turned his tassel and sat back in his seat. He watched the proceedings to the end, though his mind wasn't really there. After all the diplomas had been handed out and people had tossed their caps into the air, Zexion stood numbly until his mother appeared, brandishing a camera and gushing about how proud she was. Riku grinned at him and patted his back, but his brother could tell he just wasn't in the mood. After Zexion had posed for the traditional pictures, Riku convinced their mother to leave him be. Zexion nodded at him as a thanks before surging through the crowd toward the bright red hair that was practically a beacon. He found Axel and Roxas amongst their own families and waited patiently until they managed to fend them all off and join him. When they finally did, Axel grinned at him, though it wasn't his usual obnoxious grin. It was a watered down version.

"I liked your speech, Zexion. Very out of the box."

"Thanks," Zexion shrugged.

Roxas smiled softly at him. "I think Demyx would have loved it. You know how he was about attention."

"The kid reveled in it. He hung out with me, how could he not?" Axel sighed, as if proud.

They stood in silence for a long time before Axel sighed.

"Are you ready, then?" They nodded and started fighting their way through the black and orange robed students and their parents. When they finally made it to Axel's car, they had to wait another twenty minutes to battle their way through traffic. Finally, though, they were on their way. The whole ride was silent, but for the sounds of the radio. No one was listening to it. It was just there as background noise to keep them from going crazy. All Zexion could think about was the level of trust Demyx had held in him. His living will had been read, with only two things on it. All the money he'd made from his music was to go to Lyric when she was of age. Lyric was to go into the custody of Ariel, Axel's mother. That would be in effect until Zexion graduated college, in which the custody was granted to him if he and Lyric both chose so. He was honored and touched that Demyx trusted him so much. Still, he didn't know whether he could do it or not. Could he really…be responsible for the life of another person? He didn't know, but he really had a lot of time to think about it.

It was nearly a half hour before they pulled up to their destination. The graveyard lay before them, rolling green hills obstructed by thousands of different shaped stones. None of these stones really mattered though. Just one did. They picked their way through the graveyard until they reached the near middle and a new headstone, stark white against the grayish weather torn stones around them.

The stone had a black and white picture screened on it. It was of Demyx with Lyric sitting in his lap in the hospital, the very same day he had died. The last picture he had ever taken. He looked strangely peaceful, yet sad at the same time. As if he'd resigned to his fate. As if he had known.

It was just the sort of thing Demyx would have liked. The picture immortalized him forever as a good father, and people just passing through would know, even if they'd never met him before. It was absolutely perfect for him.

They stood there for hours in silence, each in their own thoughts, maybe even speaking to Demyx in their minds, hoping that he could someone hear them. It was this sort of hurt that he'd been afraid of. He hadn't wanted to be ripped apart from the inside again, yet here he was, bleeding all over the ground. Still, as he stood there thinking about the short amount of time he had spent with his late boyfriend, he realized that, given the chance, he still would have done it all over again. The pain be damned. It was certainly worth it. Demyx wasn't just someone you could wish away. What his tombstone read was undeniably true.

_Demyx Capulet June 9, 1989-June 10, 2008_

_ Father, Friend, Son_

_ He lives on in the memories of those lives he touched._

--

A/N: So…I have a bit of a proposition for you guys. This here can be the last chapter, or there can be one more. I assure you, the last chapter is certainly not needed, but I think it's interesting. I'm leaving it up to majority vote through reviews (because I'm too inept to figure out how to work the poll thingie) and I'll listen to whatever you guys say. So, review and let me know if we end here or not.


	20. Epilogue

A/N: Thanks for voting! I really appreciate it. This chapter is for all you guys that stuck with me and reviewed through all of this, but especially for The Critic Zoa for keeping me grounded and pointing out flaws to me all throughout. Oh yeah, and Whitney is touched by all your well wishes. She says thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Squeenix, or Disney. (I do own a Mickey Mouse watch I bought in Disney World this past summer. It plays music. You know the song in Disney Castle in KH2? Yeah…that song…)

Chapter 20-Epilogue

Life works in the funniest ways. Mind you, folks, I don't mean funny in a 'ha ha' way. I mean funny in a queer way. No pun intended, I assure you. When a little girl imagines the future, there are a few things that always come to mind. One thing in particular. If you were ever a little girl, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Her wedding. A little girl always pictures her wedding. Some things are key in this mental image. For example, the vision of walking down the aisle of a church in a white dress on the arm of your father. Everything is wonderful and beautiful and perfect, just as it should be. The girl is happier then she's ever been, and maybe a bit nervous. All the attention resides on her and her alone. Sure, there is the groom, but he's merely playing a role. Everyone knows that the wedding is all about the bride, as it should be.

You see, it's my wedding today. The happiest day of my life. I've always imagined exactly how it would look in my mind. I've always pictured it and replayed the way things would happen. I'd wear an elegant, yet simple, dress and my father would lead me down the aisle of that beautiful church with the gigantic stained glass window. The pews would be filled with smiling people, all amazed and breathless at the sight of my beauty, if only for that day. The man of my dreams would be waiting for me at the end. My mother would be in the front row crying her eyes out. Everyone I had ever loved and cared about would be there to bear witness to my most special moment. Everything would go off without a hitch and I would be joined with that most perfect man. Birds would sing and bells would ring and everything would be right with the world. The dreams of a child.

This brings me back to my initial thought. Life works in the funniest ways. Of course I'm about to marry the man of my dreams, but that is the only part of my dream that is the same. Forget about the church. I'm getting married in a graveyard. It might seem morbid to you, but it makes perfect sense to me. I wanted my parents to be at my wedding and this was the only way that could happen. Because, you see, my parents both died before I was five. I never really met my mother. She was murdered at the age of fourteen. My uncles constantly tell me that I look just like her. Uncle Roxas was my mother's twin, so I guess he would know. Still, I look at the one picture that I have of my parents together and I can't see it. We have the same blonde hair and blue eyes, but she was so much more beautiful then I am.

Then, there's my father. He died when I was four. It was cancer. He was nineteen. I vaguely remember him, but not really. What I mostly remember was the way he used to hug me. It might seem like a weird thing to remember, but then again, my father has never hugged you. His hugs…they portrayed so much emotion. He'd lift me off the floor and clutch me to his chest like I was his last anchor to the world. He'd nearly squeeze the life out of me sometimes, but I never minded because his hugs always made me feel safe and loved.

So, yes, I'm getting married in the graveyard where my parents are buried. My mother won't cry for me and my father won't walk me down the aisle, but that's okay. I guess they're sort of here in spirit, as cliché as that sounds.

I think they would have liked my decision. I do that a lot, you know. Make my decisions based on what I think my parents would have liked. Of course, I don't really know what they would have wanted, so maybe that's just my subconscious way of justifying my decisions, but they would have wanted me to be happy, so maybe, in a roundabout way, I do make decisions based on how they'd want me to. Does that make any sense? I like to think, that maybe because I'm in the graveyard, they can see my wedding. Who's to really say? I'm not really sure if I believe in God, but I'd like to think there's a heaven. There just has to be something about there that's better then this…better then life.

But I'm getting off subject. When I was a little girl, I always had that picture perfect wedding in mind. Now, though, I'm about to get married in a graveyard. There's only a handful of my closest friends and family here to witness it. Things most certainly have no gone off without a hitch. I've had emotional breakdowns and doubts and have even flown off the handle a few times. My father won't walk me down the aisle…but my dad will.

I've lived with Daddy Zexion-it was a childhood nickname that just sort of stuck-for thirteen years, since I was eight. Before then, I lived with Gramma Ariel-who's actually my uncle Axel's mother, neither of whom are related to me by blood-but when my dad graduated from college he took custody of me, as was stated in my father's will. They were dating when my father died. Yeah, my father was bi and Daddy Zexion is gay. What of it?

Wow…I'm just having the hardest time staying on subject today, aren't I? Life works in the funniest ways. I'd always imagined an improbable scenario as the picture perfect wedding, but now, as I stand here on Daddy Zexion's arm and uncles Axel and Roxas are sitting on the benches designated for the bride's family, along with Gramma Ariel and my grandparents from my mother's side, the only family I have in the world, I see that I was wrong. As we walk down the aisle, made between the rows of benches and I see my husband-to-be looking at me as if I were the only girl in the world, I realize my picture of perfection was tragically skewed. As my dad lifts my veil, kisses my cheek, hands me off to my fiancé, and I get that feeling that I always did whenever my father used to hug me and I know that my parents really are here with me, I realize that picture perfect is exactly this.

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A/N: Huh. So that was completely and totally unplanned and unexpected, but guess what. I love it! Jeez, writing from Lyric's perspective was wonderful. God, I can't believe this is over. I loved writing it and I hoped you enjoyed reading it, sad ending and all, though I'm not quite so sure it's all that sad with this last chapter. Thank you so much for all the support you've given me. I'd greatly appreciate it if you would review one final time. Thanks.

VampyreQueen


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